The Democratic Party of Korea said it would pass bills to establish the Office of Public Prosecution and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (Jung Su-cheong), so-called "prosecution reform" bills, during the March extraordinary session of the National Assembly. Earlier, the Democratic Party of Korea adopted the government plan on the establishment of the Office of Public Prosecution and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency as its party line, but it plans to undergo fine-tuning by The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which is composed of hard-liners.
Kang Jun-hyun, the Democratic Party of Korea's chief spokesperson, met reporters at the National Assembly on the morning of the 9th after finishing the Supreme Council meeting and said, "We think the bills to establish the Office of Public Prosecution and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency should be pushed within March through internal consultations," and "The president also seems to think some process of discussion and agreement within our party is needed."
He added, "There are parts that need fine-tuning, so it would be good to create a small discussion group with the Policy Committee, the floor leadership, and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to discuss them first," and "If we want to proceed with speed, it is right to operate the (discussion group) rather than sending messages from the outside."
The Democratic Party is showing differences between the party leadership and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee over the Office of Public Prosecution and Serious Crimes Investigation Agency bills. The party leadership argues that the government plan, having been set as the party line, should be respected. In contrast, Democratic Party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee criticize items such as the title of prosecutor general and say revisions are needed.
President Lee Jae-myung also appears to be moving to settle internal differences. On X (formerly Twitter) that day, Lee said, "There are many problems in the public sector, but it is not an issue with all of its members," and "Even if we carry out necessary reforms, we must be careful not to end up burning down the thatched-roof house to catch bedbugs by condemning everyone wholesale and driving all to be targets of reform."
Chief spokesperson Kang stressed, "The president wrote the post because there are concerns (about revising the Office of Public Prosecution and Serious Crimes Investigation Agency bills), didn't he," adding, "But I hope it is not overinterpreted."