On the 19th, at the second plenary session of the extraordinary session of the National Assembly in March, Kim Yong-min, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, is explaining the proposed Prosecution Office Act (alternative). [Photo=Yonhap News]

The Democratic Party of Korea has pushed forward with legislation for 'Prosecution Reform Season 2,' abolishing the prosecution service and completely separating investigation and prosecution. 

The National Assembly held a plenary session on the 19th and presented the Prosecution Office Establishment Act, while the People Power Party entered a filibuster in response. 

Key Legislation: Establishment of Prosecution Office and Central Investigation Agency

The core of this bill is to dismantle the current prosecution service and bifurcate its functions into a prosecution-only agency (Prosecution Office) and a direct investigation agency (Central Investigation Agency).

The Prosecution Office will be solely responsible for prosecution, maintaining indictments, and requesting warrants, operating under a three-tiered structure: the Prosecution Office, the Metropolitan Prosecution Office, and the District Prosecution Office.

The Central Investigation Agency (CIA) will be exclusively responsible for investigating six major categories of serious crimes, including corruption, economic crimes, drug offenses, cybercrimes, and defense industry crimes, as well as the crime of distorting the law.

Significant Reduction in Prosecutors' Authority and Enhanced Oversight

The new bill aims to strictly limit the scope of prosecutors' duties by law. It includes: △ Abolition of the command authority: Deletion of prosecutors' command and supervision over special judicial police officers. △ Prohibition of abuse of power: Establishment of a clause explicitly prohibiting the abuse of power, which is not present in the current Prosecution Service Act, and strengthening disciplinary measures. It also specifies grounds for dismissal, allowing prosecutors to be 'removed' without impeachment proceedings.

Regarding the bill's passage, Kim Yong-min, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, stated, "Today, we will abolish the political prosecutors who have failed to shine for the people for 78 years and send them into the annals of history." Song Eon-seok, the floor leader of the People Power Party, strongly protested, saying, "This is not prosecution reform, but prosecution demolition. We will inform the public of the tyranny of this administration that aims to usher in a world of criminals."

The Democratic Party plans to process the bills one by one by utilizing the National Assembly Act, which allows for the termination of debate by vote after 24 hours have passed since the start of a filibuster. A vote on the Prosecution Office Act is scheduled for tomorrow, the 20th, followed by the tabling and finalization of the Central Investigation Agency Act on the 21st.

Rep. Na Kyung-won stated via SNS, "This is a despicable political deal solely for the regime's survival, with the people's livelihood neglected." However, the general consensus is that preventing the bill's passage will be futile in the current political climate where the ruling party holds a majority.

By Im Yo-hee