Ruling Party Pushes ‘Abolition of Supplementary Investigation Authority’ Through Agenda Committee... Opposition Urges President Lee to Use Veto

On July 29, the Democratic Party of Korea attempted to push through a revision to the Criminal Procedure Act, aimed at abolishing prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights, at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, prompting strong backlash from opposition parties. The People Power Party declared, "If President Lee Jaemyung does not exercise his veto when this passes the National Assembly plenary session, he will go down in history as having committed a grave wrongdoing."

In response, the People Power Party staged a protest visit to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chamber at the National Assembly that afternoon. The protest was attended by more than 10 members, including Kim Seungsoo and Kim Miae, floor executive vice leaders of the People Power Party, and Park Hyungsoo, the opposition secretary of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The lawmakers chanted slogans such as, "Stop pushing through this evil law that will only make criminals laugh."

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Cho Baesook, a People Power Party lawmaker who spoke first, said, "The Democratic Party is willing to do anything to win votes ahead of the August 17 national party convention." He added, "If this Criminal Procedure Act amendment passes the National Assembly, President Lee must exercise his veto. If not, it will be a sin against history."

Kim Miae, floor executive vice leader, argued, "The reason the Democratic Party is recklessly pushing through a law that protects criminals is because it cannot go against the wishes of its hardline supporters and so-called 'Gaeddal' (strong pro-Democratic Party supporters)." She added, "Instead of resigning, the acting Minister of Justice and the acting Prosecutor General should urge the President to exercise his veto if they truly care about the Republic of Korea."

The protest by the People Power Party was triggered by the neutralization of the party's request for an "Agenda Coordination Committee." This committee, comprising an equal number of members from both ruling and opposition parties, can review contentious bills for up to 90 days. However, if more than four committee members agree, the procedure can be expedited and the agenda immediately processed.

In the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's newly formed Agenda Coordination Committee, the ruling party secured approval by including all three of its members and one supporting member from the Innovation Party for Korea, which is allied with the ruling bloc. Even if the revision to the Criminal Procedure Act passes the full committee, the People Power Party plans to continue its protest at the party caucus and plenary session scheduled for July 30. Kim Seungsoo stated, "Tomorrow, we will launch even stronger protest actions through the party caucus."

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