Democratic Party Floor Leader Han Byung-doo criticized the People Power Party's offensive calling for the resignation of Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won today (Sept. 2), stating, "Pouring reckless criticism on nominee Kim, who will take charge of launching the new system, is nothing more than a political offensive that blocks criminal justice reform."

Floor Leader Han made the remarks during an on-site Supreme Council meeting held at Sejong City Hall that day, saying, "The People Power Party should not use individual cases as an excuse to incite public anxiety, as if the abolition of (prosecutors') supplementary investigation rights would mass-produce similar incidents, nor should they shake the foundation of the new criminal justice system."

His point is that it is inappropriate for the People Power Party to criticize prosecution reform and add issues with nominee Kim's nomination to raise problems with judicial reform overall, at a time when public concerns toward the police are growing, such as the false closing of a missing person report in Jeju.

Floor Leader Han stated, "Exactly one month from now, the Prosecutors' Office will be abolished, and the Prosecution Service and the Serious Crime Investigation Agency will open the doors to a new history," adding, "It is a massive transformation of the criminal justice system that disperses the omnipotent power concentrated in the prosecution through the separation of investigation and indictment."

Floor Leader Han said, "In that the public must be able to trust investigative agencies for the new system to function properly, the recently exposed problems of the police cannot be brushed aside lightly," and added, "The Democratic Party will pursue high-intensity police reform centered around the party's police reform task force."

He continued, "Police wrongdoing must be corrected through police reform, and it must not be used as a justification to revive prosecutorial powers," adding, "The Democratic Party will hold the police more strictly accountable, protect the rights of the public more robustly, and do its utmost to ensure the stable settlement of the new criminal justice system."

(Photo: Yonhap News)