The Democratic Party of Korea is increasingly likely to process the prosecution reform bills this week as the government proposed. That is because President Lee Jae-myung, at a dinner with the party's freshman lawmakers, noted problems with some hard-line lawmakers' views on prosecution reform.
According to political circles on the 16th, the president is said to have remarked at a dinner meeting with the party's freshman lawmakers the previous day that the bills to establish the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Agency should pass as the government proposed. One lawmaker who attended the dinner said, "We already stripped prosecutors of their direct investigative authority, so why go this far," adding, "There was also a comment that it is hard to understand the controversy over the title of prosecutor general."
The president has already said several times that the prosecution reform bills should pass as the government proposed. A representative example is a post on social media saying, "We must be careful not to burn down the entire thatched-roof house to catch a bedbug."
There had been projections that handling the bills would not be easy, as hard-liners on prosecution reform within the party's Legislation and Judiciary Committee argued the government plan had problems. Lawmakers Choo Mi-ae and Kim Yong-min are representative examples. They strongly criticized the government plan as a "back-to-the-Prosecution Service" bill. Because the prosecution reform bills must clear the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, where hard-liners sit, hurdles were expected.
However, as the president delivered a message directly to party lawmakers, intraparty discord over the prosecution reform bills is increasingly likely to be resolved. The Democratic Party of Korea has signaled it will bring the bills to the National Assembly plenary session on the 19th.
Kang Jun-hyun, the Democratic Party of Korea's senior Spokesperson, told reporters that day, "We continued to coordinate the prosecution reform bills over the weekend, and if results come out shortly, it will be possible to process them on the 19th." Spokesperson Kim Ki-pyo also said, "Since the party presented opinions on the government plan and coordinated them in the first and second rounds, although some lawmakers are raising objections, I think with sufficient coordination it will be possible on the 19th."
Party leader Jung Chung-rae also said at the supreme council meeting that day, "The party, government and presidential office are coordinating in depth so that the principles of prosecution reform can be upheld," adding, "We will do our utmost to produce results as quickly as possible with a sense of urgency."