The Democratic Party and the government held a high-level party-government consultative meeting today (the 13th) and agreed to push forward with intensive police reform while making thorough preparations for the launch of the Serious Crime Investigation Office and the Public Prosecution Office scheduled for next month.

In addition, ahead of the Chuseok holiday, they decided to prepare the largest-scale supply of holiday items and discount support measures in history.

Lee Yong-woo, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, met with reporters at the National Assembly immediately following the high-level party-government consultative meeting held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, and delivered these remarks.

According to Spokesperson Lee, Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok emphasized strong police reform during the meeting.

Leader Kim reportedly said, "Police reform must proceed even more strongly than prosecution reform," adding, "It will not be carried out moderately or passed over in such a manner."

He also called for active, preemptive, and autonomous reform by the police, requesting, "Police investigations must also be thorough so that no criticism or points of contention arise."

During the meeting, the party and government also inspected the preparation status for the Serious Crime Investigation Office and the Public Prosecution Office, which are set to launch on the 2nd of next month alongside the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office, and agreed to actively review changing the name of the controversial "Judicial Control Division" related to the Public Prosecution Office to the "Non-Prosecution Case Review Division."

President Lee Jae-myung instructed the Ministry of Justice on the 10th to revise and supplement the name of the Judicial Control Division, the department responsible for reviewing non-prosecution cases, as a heated debate had arisen over the title.

Furthermore, the party and government decided to discuss measures such as abolishing the Criminal Planning Division and the Serious Crime Planning Division posts included in the draft organization chart of the Public Prosecution Office.

Meanwhile, to stabilize Chuseok grocery prices, the party and government decided to expand the supply of holiday items and provide discount support to the largest extent in history.

Spokesperson Lee stated, "We will inject 193 billion won into discount support, which is more than double the 90. billion won from last year."

He went on to emphasize, "As we are eliminating the discount limits on agricultural and livestock products and extending the discount period until after the Chuseok holiday, citizens will receive even greater discount benefits this holiday compared to previous years."

Major discounted items include napa cabbage, radishes, apples, beef, pork, chicken, eggs, pollock, mackerel, and squid.

Spokesperson Lee added, "We will further strengthen our price stabilization efforts by supplying a total of 185,000 tons of the 19 major holiday items during the holiday period."

(Photo: Yonhap News)