[Anchor]

The issue of abolishing supplementary investigation rights remains a hot topic in the National Assembly today, July 14. Within the Democratic Party, some lawmakers are raising concerns, leading to an ongoing debate, while the People Power Party is holding a forum to advocate for the retention of these rights, voicing their opposition to the abolition.

Reporter Park Chan-beom has the story.

[Reporter]

With People Power Party members absent, the Democratic Party and other pan-ruling party lawmakers held a Legislation and Judiciary Committee subcommittee meeting yesterday, July 13. They are accelerating the review of the Criminal Procedure Act amendment, which centers on the abolition of supplementary investigation rights, stating they plan to hold two or three meetings this week alone.

However, seemingly conscious of concerns regarding the abolition, they are also reviewing additional supplementary measures such as the digitalization of investigation materials and an investigation real-name system.

Amid this, Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Ki-won proposed a bill today that would allow for exceptions to the supplementary investigation rights for crimes such as sex offenses and voice phishing.

Eleven Democratic Party lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors.

[Hong Ki-won/Democratic Party Lawmaker: If even one innocent victim is created as a result of a total ban on supplementary investigations, can we truly call that a successful reform?]

The debate is intensifying even within the Democratic Party, and the leadership held a general meeting of lawmakers starting at 2:00 p.m. today to gather further opinions.

[Han Byung-do/Democratic Party Floor Leader: I hope that through the sufficient deliberation and intense debate that the Democratic Party prides itself on, we can complete a criminal justice system that serves only the people.]

The People Power Party has countered the Democratic Party's attempt at reform by announcing it will propose an amendment as a party platform that maintains supplementary investigation rights.

They have also decided to adopt a plan to delay the implementation of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency Act and the Public Prosecution Service Act, which are set to take effect in October of this year, by one year.

The People Power Party also held a forum to discuss the necessity of supplementary investigation rights.

[Jang Dong-hyuk/People Power Party Representative: This is not a gift that can be easily handed out for the sake of the (Democratic Party's) national convention or to appease their hardline supporters.]

However, there is a division of opinion among People Power Party lawmakers regarding the proposal to revive the system of referring all cases to the prosecution, due to concerns that it might give the impression of opposing prosecution reform.

(Video coverage: Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video editing: Park Sun-soo)