[Anchor]

The People Power Party is highlighting allegations of a cover-up by the police in the "Jang Yoon-gi case," intensifying its opposition to the complete abolition of the prosecution's authority to conduct supplementary investigations. Party leadership, including Representative Jang Dong-hyuk, visited the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency in protest, arguing that the truth behind the Jang Yoon-gi case would have been buried if not for the prosecution's supplementary investigation. However, a meeting with the police chief did not take place.

Reporter Park Chan-beom has the story.

[Reporter]

Representative Jang Dong-hyuk of the People Power Party and others postponed a meeting with Prime Minister Han Sung-sook, which had been scheduled for 2:00 PM today (July 9), and made an urgent visit to the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency, which has jurisdiction over the "Jang Yoon-gi case."

The visit was intended to protest the police's alleged cover-up and minimization of the "Jang Yoon-gi case" and to seek a meeting with the police chief. It is also interpreted as an attempt to build a case against the Democratic Party's push to "completely abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation authority."

However, the police denied them entry.

[Kim Jang-gyeom/Chief of Staff to the People Power Party Representative: Are you the person in charge of blocking me from entering?]

It is reported that the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency chief conveyed to the People Power Party that a meeting was difficult because he himself could become a subject of the investigation into the cover-up allegations.

Police and People Power Party lawmakers stood in a standoff for 30 minutes, and ultimately, the meeting did not take place.

Representative Jang stated, "We have seen the true face of the police," adding, "If it were not for the prosecution's supplementary investigation, the truth would have been buried."

[Jang Dong-hyuk/Representative of the People Power Party: What I felt again after coming here is that if the police were to hold full investigative authority without even the check of supplementary investigation rights, the damage would fall entirely on the public.]

The People Power Party criticized the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act proposed by the Democratic Party, stating, "They are obsessed with a gamble that puts the lives and safety of the public at risk, looking only at their hardline supporters."

[Shin Dong-wook/Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party: Is the Democratic Party acting as if there is not a single disagreement regarding the complete deprivation of the prosecution's supplementary investigation authority? Is the Democratic Party a party only for its hardline supporters?]

The People Power Party's floor leadership is also considering proposing its own amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, which would include provisions to retain the prosecution's supplementary investigation authority for certain major crimes.

(Video reporting: Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video editing: Lee Seung-hee)