The Democratic Party of Korea said it would push for a parliamentary investigation and a special counsel, citing "suspicions of fabricated indictments" in connection with prosecutors' investigations during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
Jung Chung-rae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said at a forum on the "fact-finding of fabricated indictments and cancellation of prosecutions" held at the National Assembly on the 9th that "opposition suppression and the elimination of political rivals reached a peak during the Yoon Suk-yeol prosecutorial dictatorship," adding, "A fabricated indictment is a crime beyond a crime and a foul beyond a foul."
Jung said, "In a soccer match, a goal scored on an offside foul is also disallowed," adding, "An indictment brought through fabrication likewise should rightly be canceled." He went on to note, "We will report the request for a parliamentary investigation to the National Assembly plenary session on the 12th and then push for a special counsel to correct the prosecution's wrongful practices."
Not only the ruling party leadership but also many lawmakers attended the forum that day, flexing their strength. Han Byung-do, the Democratic Party floor leader, said, "The issue of fabricated indictments is not a simple case but a matter of prosecutorial power abuse," signaling his intent to pursue a parliamentary investigation and a special counsel.
Han, the floor leader, said regarding the SSANGBANGWOOL remittance-to-North-Korea case, "Circumstantial evidence has emerged that former SSANGBANGWOOL Chairman Kim Sung-tae effectively used the prosecutor's office as his own workplace," adding, "There are even suspicions that a prosecutor served as the suspect's 'butler.'"
Academics and legal professionals who attended the forum said the effectiveness of the "cancellation of prosecution" system under the Criminal Procedure Act should be strengthened to control the prosecution's abuse of the right to indict.
Kim Jae-yoon, a professor at Konkuk University Law School who served as a lead presenter, said, "There is a need to strengthen the control mechanisms of the cancellation of prosecution system by revising Article 255 of the Criminal Procedure Act." He added, "It is unlikely that a prosecutor will acknowledge illegality on their own and cancel a prosecution," and said, "Through amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act, it is necessary to clarify the grounds for canceling a prosecution and to strengthen procedural controls by requiring court approval and the defendant's consent."
He also argued that the introduction of new grounds for dismissal of indictment and a "pretrial procedure" to examine the legality of indictments before trial should be considered. Attorney Jang Beom-sik, who took part in the discussion, likewise said, "Because the cancellation of prosecution system is only possible before a first-instance ruling, among other institutional limits, additional institutional safeguards to prevent abuse of the right to indict also need to be discussed."