Kim Minseok and Chung Cheongrae Clash Over May Prosecution Reform Handling... Chung: "Never Heard of It," Kim: "Delivered Through Various Channels"

A Friendly Atmosphere as They Meet at the Workshop

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and former leader Jeong Cheong-rae, both seen as potential candidates for the Democratic Party leadership, engaged in a debate over the issue of the prosecution's supplementary investigation authority.

On July 3, during the Democratic Party’s 22nd National Assembly workshop held at Seoul Dragon City Hotel in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Jeong Cheong-rae met with reporters and stated, "There has been talk that the party rejected my request to abolish the supplementary investigation authority by May, but to be clear, I have never received such a proposal." He added, "If someone claims to have asked the party, that would mean they requested it to the party leader or the floor leader, but neither I nor the former floor leader recall ever receiving such a proposal. If no one remembers it, it is more likely that it never happened."

Former leader of the Democratic Party Jeong Cheong-rae (left), Congressman Song Young-gil, and former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok are seated together at one table during the Democratic Party lawmakers' workshop held at a hotel in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 3rd. Photo by Yonhap News.

He continued, "If the government drafts a law and asks, 'Please process this,' then each article would be discussed at the general assembly, but there was no such thing. I do not recall, nor have I ever been briefed on, any such request. The government has never submitted a bill." He further questioned, "If the government's position is to abolish the supplementary investigation authority entirely, they would have drafted a bill. So, what is the reason for not submitting it?"

He also said, "Han Jeong-ae, the policy chief, once mentioned that perhaps the ruling party and the government should have a public discussion about abolishing the supplementary investigation authority or the right to request it. Since it was election season, instead of the National Assembly, the discussion took place at the Press Center. That discussion was not a request to process it by May."

In response, former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok explained, "Regarding the handling of the prosecution reform bill, I suggested to the government and the ruling party that it would be preferable to split the reforms into two phases so that the first phase could address some of the conflicts early on. I communicated this to the party through various channels." He continued, "If things had proceeded as initially planned and the bill was processed in May, there would have been more leeway, but even though the pace has been slow, I believe that if we speed up the process now, there should be no issue in launching the new Office of Public Prosecution or Investigation Office in October."

The two also disagreed on the "one person, one vote" system. Jeong Cheong-rae argued, "Debates about whether to add weight to strategic or Yeongnam regions when discussing the one person, one vote system are, in my view, attempts to undermine the principle of one person, one vote."

On the other hand, Kim Min-seok stated, "I have always advocated for the one person, one vote system, and since it has already been implemented, I believe there is no need for further debate. However, as there have been discussions about regional weighting in this convention, I think we should make gradual and comprehensive improvements to the system, while maintaining its spirit." He further elaborated, "Since the one person, one vote system has already been adopted, we should implement it and steadily improve the system as needed."

Meanwhile, at the workshop, Kim Min-seok, Jeong Cheong-rae, and Congressman Song Young-gil were seen sitting at the same table, smiling and engaging in friendly conversation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.