[Anchor]

Internal conflict within the pan-ruling camp over prosecution reform has entered a new phase. This time, Cheong Wa Dae and the Rebuilding Korea Party have clashed head-on. Cheong Wa Dae released a late-night statement regarding the process of prosecution reform, including which government ministries the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and the Indictment Agency should belong to, as well as the abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigation authority.

Park Ye-rin reports.

[Reporter]

President Lee Jae-myung wrote on social media on October 5, "Not only the Rebuilding Korea Party, but most proponents of prosecution reform argued for granting supplementary investigation authority to the Indictment Agency, while placing both the Major Crimes Investigation Agency in charge of investigations and the Indictment Agency in charge of indictments under the Ministry of Justice."

He went on to emphasize that the government took a step further by assigning the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and the Indictment Agency separately to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Justice, respectively, and that stripping prosecutors of supplementary investigation authority—which they later changed their stance to demand—was also achieved.

In response, the Rebuilding Korea Party countered that while it was true they had proposed legislation placing the Major Crimes Investigation Agency under the Ministry of Justice, they later changed their party platform to place it under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and that what the party advocated was not the authority to conduct supplementary investigations, but the authority to request supplementary investigations.

At 11 p.m. that night, Cheong Wa Dae took the unusual step of releasing a late-night statement.

It claimed that Cho Kuk, former leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, had agreed to conditionally recognize supplementary investigation authority on a YouTube program last year.

[Cho Kuk / Former Leader of Rebuilding Korea Party (YouTube 'Jang Yoon-sun's Reporting Convenience Store', August 2025): The Rebuilding Korea Party naturally, and I naturally, take the position that supplementary investigations should be recognized under limited conditions.]

Cheong Wa Dae requested, "Rather than clinging to minor differences, please join in the process of completing the prosecution reform that has already progressed irreversibly."

In response, the Rebuilding Korea Party criticized on Tuesday morning, stating, "Cheong Wa Dae has engaged in political maneuvering to force through its political intentions." Former leader Cho also expressed regret, saying, "Is this such an urgent and pressing matter that warrants distributing a press release late at night?" and added, "It is provoking a wasteful dispute."

Amid this, Lim Eun-jung, head of the Gwangju Regional Major Crimes Investigation Agency, who is known as a prosecution reform hardliner, has continued her public criticism of Kim Ji-yong, the nominee for commissioner of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, for consecutive days.

[Lim Eun-jung / Head of Gwangju Regional Major Crimes Investigation Agency: It has been revealed to some extent that nominee Kim Ji-yong was involved in the chain of command in various unfortunate incidents on several occasions....]

The National Assembly confirmation hearing for nominee Kim Ji-yong, expected on October 14, is anticipated to be a watershed moment in the conflict over prosecution reform within the pan-ruling camp.

(Video by Jeong Sang-bo and Ha Ryung | Video Editing by Wi Won-yang | Graphics by JUNHO)