One of the core elements of the prosecution reform plan, the Prosecution Office Act, which abolishes the Prosecution Service and establishes a new organization dedicated to indictments, was placed on the floor of the National Assembly for a plenary vote on the 19th under the ruling party's lead. The People Power Party immediately launched an unlimited debate (filibuster) as soon as it was introduced.
In a plenary session that afternoon, the National Assembly placed on the floor the Prosecution Office Act, which abolishes the Prosecution Service's authority to direct and supervise the police and, under the principle of separating investigation and indictment, establishes a Prosecution Office dedicated solely to indictments.
Kim Yong-min of the Democratic Party of Korea, a secretary of The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said in a sponsor's explanation, "Today, the Prosecution Service is abolished," drawing applause from Democratic Party lawmakers. Kim said, "The prosecution abused its concentrated powers recklessly, became complicit in corruption, and made itself a handmaiden to power," adding, "Now we will consign the prosecution to the dustbin of history."
He went on, "We will return to the people a Prosecution Office that defends human rights and protects citizens who have been wronged," and said, "The prosecution may be abolished, but prosecution reform is not over." He added, "It will only be completed through the full separation of investigation and indictment, the stable functioning of checks and balances, and the establishment of a new organizational culture at the Prosecution Office that will be reborn as prosecutors for the people."
Under the principle of separating investigation and indictment, the Prosecution Office will be responsible solely for indictment functions. It will operate with a three-tier structure of the Prosecution Office and metropolitan and local prosecution offices. Prosecutors of the Prosecution Office will handle decisions on whether to bring charges and the maintenance of indictments, with other powers defined by law. The title of the head of the Prosecution Office will remain "prosecutor general," but the term will be limited to a single two-year term, and removal through disciplinary action will be allowed without impeachment.
The People Power Party, protesting the handling of the Prosecution Office Act that day, immediately began a filibuster after it was introduced. Yoon Sang-hyun of the People Power Party, a member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, took the floor as the first filibuster speaker.
Yoon said, "The essence of the Prosecution Office Act and the Serious Crimes Investigation Office Act, which the Democratic Party is trying to railroad through, is to reorganize those powers into new bodies that the Democratic Party can control," adding, "On the surface, they tout the dispersion of power and strengthening of investigative expertise, but in reality it creates a structure in which the president and the ruling camp control the two institutions."
He continued, "With investigation and indictment separated, if either side refuses to cooperate, there is no mechanism to coordinate, and the scope of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office's investigations is also unclear, which only heightens the risk of political abuse," pointing out, "In a structure where the Serious Crimes Investigation Office investigates and the Prosecution Office requests warrants, warrants could be sought in a perfunctory manner without fully understanding the details of the investigation, risking hollowing out the warrant principle."
The Democratic Party plans to force an end to the filibuster and pass the bill on the afternoon of the 20th, after 24 hours from the start of the filibuster. It then plans to place the bill establishing the Serious Crimes Investigation Office on the floor and push it through on the 21st.