President Lee Jae-myung on the 17th said that on the prosecution reform plan centered on separating investigation and indictment and excluding prosecutors from investigative authority, "we need to talk openly to the point of being tired." The public remark came amid pushback from hard-liners in the ruling party over the government's prosecution reform plan, which has spilled into a rift between the party and the presidential office.
At a cabinet meeting that morning, Lee said, "This is a method I sometimes use, but the more difficult the issue, if you give everyone a chance to talk until the end, they later get tired and become more receptive," adding, "If you suppress or limit discussion because you're busy, it all becomes a problem later." He also said, "All the more with contentious agendas, even if it's a bit hard, we really have to talk openly and deliberate so things don't erupt two and three times later," adding, "This time, there's some of that tendency."
In particular, mentioning the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Justice, and the Office for Government Policy Coordination, which handle communication with the National Assembly on government-led reforms, he said, "Didn't I tell you to deliberate? I said discuss and decide," adding, "To deliberate, we first need serious debate on a foundation of communication, but later you see people saying, 'I never even heard about it; I just did it because I was told to,' or situations arise where no one takes responsibility."
Lee said, "The grand premise of deliberation is to debate seriously and communicate. You need trust; how can it work if people just kill time in an atmosphere where they can't speak?" He added, "Of course, in party-government relations, it's not that someone is superior, but we need to make more effort." He noted that the core of this prosecution reform is the separation of investigation and indictment and the expansion of the police's role, saying, "I want to remove room for misunderstanding and make things clear, but the process management is a bit lacking."