The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a public hearing regarding the prosecutorial reform being promoted by the Democratic Party of Korea. Choo Mi-ae, chairperson of the committee, and Na Kyung-won, a member of the People Power Party, engaged in a war of nerves over the appointment of the opposition secretary. Legal professionals who participated as speakers were also divided in support and opposition, confronting legislators from both parties.
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a general meeting on the morning of the 4th at the National Assembly and hosted the 'Public Hearing on Prosecutorial Reform.' The public hearing addressed the core issue of prosecutorial reform promoted by the Democratic Party of Korea, which involves the abolition of the prosecution service and the establishment of a public prosecution service and a serious crimes investigation agency.
Before the public hearing began, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the appointment of the opposition secretary. When Chairperson Choo attempted to start the meeting, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee members from the People Power Party requested that Na Kyung-won's appointment be addressed first, while Chairperson Choo insisted on proceeding with the public hearing. Additionally, there were heated exchanges between legislators regarding Na's remark on the 2nd directed at first-term members of the Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party, 'First-term members should keep quiet.'
A war of nerves also erupted between Chairperson Choo and Representative Na. During the public hearing questioning, Na pointed out, 'I thought it was 'legislative dictatorship' to see a committee operating that disregards the National Assembly law and its spirit.' Chairperson Choo shot back, 'Speak on matters not related to the agenda during personal statements later. How can you not distinguish between personal statements and the topic of the public hearing after being a five-term member?'
Debates were intense among speakers divided between support and opposition. Participants for the public hearing included Korea University professor Yoon Dong-ho in favor of prosecutorial reform, and Han Dong-soo, attorney at Jeongse Law Firm, while opposing speakers included Kim Jong-min, attorney at MK Partners Law Firm, and Cha Jin-ah, professor at Korea University.
In support, Professor Yoon Dong-ho stated regarding the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, '(Having the agency under the Ministry of Justice) means prosecutors want to take over a prosecution service that has lost its investigative functions and later intend to merge it back to restore the prosecution service.' Attorney Han Dong-soo added, 'The prosecution will use supplementary investigations as an excuse to expand its investigative departments and personnel,' advocating for the abolition of supplementary investigative powers.
Opposing speaker Kim Jong-min stated, 'According to a survey of 1,779 legal professionals conducted by a legal newspaper, support for the prosecutorial reform proposal was 19.3%, while opposition was 49.1%. Therefore, we must carefully consider the criticisms and proceed with prosecutorial reform.' Professor Cha Jin-ah pointed out, 'Changing the title of the prosecutor general to chief public prosecutor is unconstitutional,' adding, 'There are methods, like abolishing direct investigative authority as done in Europe, while maintaining supervisory authority for investigations.'
In particular, when Professor Cha was asked by Representative Park Kyun-taek, 'Is there a solution based on the premise of separating investigation and prosecution?' she replied, 'CIO and the special prosecution indeed hold both investigative and prosecutorial powers; is this acknowledging a wrong exception? It doesn't make sense.' Regarding Chairperson Choo's counterargument that 'the prosecutor general cannot be viewed as a constitutional institution,' she said, 'There is no right to impose your opinion as chairperson.'