In the 21st National Assembly, lawmakers from the former reform-leaning group within the Democratic Party of Korea, known as "Cheoreomhoe," called the passage of the bill to establish the Public Prosecution Office in a plenary session "a fundamental shift in the criminal justice system" and said they would "work to settle the system and follow through on subsequent tasks at the same time."

As the Public Prosecution Office Act (alternative bill), a prosecution reform measure, passes after a filibuster during the second plenary session of the March extraordinary session at the National Assembly on the 20th, Kim Yong-min of the Democratic Party of Korea, the ruling-party secretary of The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, raises his fist./Courtesy of Yonhap News

Kim Yong-min of the Democratic Party of Korea held a press conference right after the plenary session and said, "For the first time in 78 years of constitutional history, the Prosecution Service has been abolished and a law establishing the Public Prosecution Office has passed," adding, "With today's passage of the Public Prosecution Office Act, the Prosecution Service, which has wielded unchecked power, will disappear into history."

Min Hyung-bae of the Democratic Party of Korea said, "On Dec. 29, 2020, Cheoreomhoe first introduced the Public Prosecution Office Act and the Prosecution Service Abolition Act, and today, at long last, after 5 years and 3 months, we have borne fruit and can finally send the prosecution to the museum of history." Min continued, "We hope never again on this land will state power unjustly destroy people's lives, and we will join forces until the final completion going forward."

Moon Jeong-bok of the Democratic Party of Korea also said, "When we first entered the 21st National Assembly, the reason we formed Cheoreomhoe was prosecution reform," adding, "As a result, in the 22nd National Assembly, even though Cheoreomhoe changed its name to the Fair Society Forum, we were fortunate to be able to deliver results."

They went on to stress that "since we have achieved institutional reform, addressing past wrongs and providing relief to victims must proceed in tandem," and said, "We need to swiftly debate and pass the basic bill for the Prosecution Past Affairs Committee that has been introduced." They also assessed that "prosecution reform is currently about 70% complete" and said, "We will steadfastly fill the remaining 30%."

※ This article has been translated by AI. Share your feedback here.