President Lee Jae-myung has repeatedly emphasized that no public harm should arise from changes to the judicial and criminal justice systems, following the revised Criminal Procedure Act that abolishes prosecutors' direct and supplementary investigation powers.

While he recently lent weight to the legitimacy of the revised Criminal Procedure Act at a Cabinet meeting by calling it a "measure where things rightfully return to their proper place," he continues to show wariness over excessive powers being concentrated in the police.

As differences emerged among government ministries over whether joint investigation headquarters-style cooperative investigative bodies between prosecutors and police would lose legal grounds after the law revision, President Lee even questioned relevant ministries as to whether prosecutors' investigations were entirely banned to the extent that such bodies could not even be maintained.

During a policy briefing for the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and other agencies held at the Blue House on the 5th, President Lee said, "The police now have the authority to completely close given cases, but the public is worried about whether the police have sufficient capability, whether they are reliable, and whether self-correction is possible."

He added, "While supplementary investigations by prosecutors as before would not solve 100% of the problems, anxiety is growing precisely because that (supplementary investigation power) is disappearing," asking whether countermeasures for this are being well prepared.

In the process, ministries showed differing opinions on whether the current joint prosecution-police investigation headquarters could be maintained.

With prosecutors losing their investigative powers following the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act, the necessity of a legal review regarding the joint investigation headquarters has also emerged as a pending issue.

Regarding the joint investigation headquarters issue, President Lee asked, "I haven't read the revised Criminal Procedure Act, so let me ask, does the bill state that prosecutors must not conduct investigations?"

When Justice Minister Chung Sung-ho replied, "The legal grounds for conducting investigations have entirely disappeared," President Lee reconfirmed, "The grounds have disappeared, but I am asking whether an outright 'ban' is in place."

In response, Vice Justice Minister Lee Jin-soo explained, "Since it is designed so that prosecutors do not fully exercise investigative authority, controversy over illegal investigations could arise if prosecutors directly intervene in investigations going forward."

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety also revealed differences regarding the legal basis for operating prosecutor-police cooperative bodies after the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Vice Justice Minister Lee stated, "The current joint investigation headquarters system will face many legal controversies," adding, "We judge that it will be difficult to maintain it as is."

Justice Minister Chung Sung-ho also pointed out, "If prosecutors participate in investigations, problems could arise regarding the admissibility of evidence."

However, Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung expressed an opinion suggesting that a body similar to the current joint investigation headquarters could operate, saying, "The joint prosecution-police investigation headquarters until now did not have clear grounds in the Criminal Procedure Act either. Moving forward, since the functions of the prosecutors' office will be divided into the prosecution service and the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, wouldn't a joint investigation headquarters comprising the prosecution service, the serious crime investigation agency, and the police be established?"

In response, President Lee instructed each ministry to "pre-check how to handle the joint investigation headquarters and report back."

President Lee also highlighted that Minister Chung and Minister Yoon, both lawmakers belonging to the Democratic Party, have a long history of working together within the party, and asked them to pool their efforts in preparing follow-up measures.

President Lee smiled as he said, "Because this is an effort to completely overhaul a system maintained for decades, it will be difficult to eliminate all problems cleanly, and it will take time and money. The Interior and Safety and Justice ministers are close anyway. Please consult well so that you can prepare for all contingencies."

Notably, this remark is drawing attention as it can be interpreted as an expression of intent to still entrust Minister Chung with the task of supplementing the revised Criminal Procedure Act, even though controversy recently arose over his future path following his tender of resignation.

A ruling party official explained that during the closed-door session of the Cabinet meeting the previous day, President Lee also told Minister Chung to "hang in there" and made remarks encouraging him to continue working hard on his duties.