Blue House and Korea Innovation Party Spar Over 'Supplementary Investigation Rights'... Fact-Checking Cho Kuk's Actual Remarks

Lee: "Korea Innovation Party Called for Supplementary Investigation Rights"

Innovation Party Directly Rebuts: "We Asked Only for the Right to Request Supplementary Investigations"

Blue House Responds Again: "Cho Kuk Acknowledged the Need for

The Blue House and the Innovation Party for the Motherland are locked in a dispute over the truth of former party leader Cho Kuk's past statements. President Lee Jae-myung asserted that “the Innovation Party for the Motherland initially argued for granting the right to request supplementary investigations but has now shifted to a position of deprivation.” In response, the Innovation Party for the Motherland countered by clarifying that they had argued for the “right to request a supplementary investigation,” not the direct authority for supplementary investigations. In turn, the Blue House issued a press release late at night on the 5th to reiterate its stance.

On this day, President Lee wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Most advocates for prosecution reform, including the Innovation Party for the Motherland, used to call for establishing an Intermediate Serious Crimes Investigation Office under the Ministry of Justice, responsible for investigations, and a Public Prosecution Office, responsible for indictments. There was also a call to grant the right for supplementary investigations to the Public Prosecution Office.” He continued, “Their new position advocating for depriving the prosecution of the supplementary investigation authority has now been adopted.”

President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Senior Presidential Secretary Meeting held at the Blue House on October 1, 2026. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

President Lee's remarks appear to target hardline pro-government lawmakers who have criticized the government's prosecution reform efforts as lukewarm. According to President Lee, the majority of prosecution reformists, including the Innovation Party for the Motherland, used to acknowledge the right to supplementary investigations in the past, and the Lee Jae-myung administration has taken prosecution reform a step further than they had previously advocated.

In response, the Innovation Party for the Motherland directly rebutted President Lee’s remarks on the same day through Chief Spokesman Park Byeong-eon. Park explained, “What the Innovation Party advocated was the right to request a supplementary investigation, not the authority to conduct supplementary investigations.” He added, “Exceptions could only be discussed in extraordinary judicial circumstances, such as when the statute of limitations is imminent or when the police repeatedly refuse the prosecutor's request for a supplementary investigation, and even then, only for cases strictly enumerated by law.”

Subsequently, the Blue House spokesperson issued another press release, stating, “Former leader Cho Kuk himself made it clear that he believed supplementary investigations should be permitted under limited conditions, during his appearance on ‘Jang Yun-seon's News Convenience Store’ on August 29, 2025.”

What exactly did former party leader Cho Kuk say?

"The second point I’d like to make is the prosecutor’s right to request a supplementary investigation. This is an issue of the right to request or the right to conduct supplementary investigations. Everyone agrees that investigation and indictment should be separated and that the police should have investigative authority. The problem is to what extent prosecutors can intervene once a police investigation has commenced. There is currently a clear difference of opinion between the ruling Democratic Party, the Presidential Office, and the Ministry of Justice: one view is that prosecutors should be able to intervene in all police investigations, while the other side opposes this, as it would be no different from the past. Therefore, the prosecutor’s intervention should be very limited. For example, in cases where the statute of limitations is imminent, or under other specific conditions. The Innovation Party for the Motherland naturally believes that supplementary investigations should be permitted only under limited conditions. These two issues need to be clarified, but as for the scope of the right to request supplementary investigations, it’s straightforward — the problem shouldn’t become just a matter of whether it falls under the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of the Interior. Regardless of which organization holds the authority, certain auxiliary conditions must be satisfied at the same time. I would appreciate it if people would keep this in mind.

(Source: YouTube ‘Jang Yun-seon's News Convenience Store,’ August 29, 2025)

As the Blue House claimed, former leader Cho Kuk did state that “supplementary investigations should be permitted only under limited conditions.” The key issue is that he did not clearly distinguish between the right to conduct supplementary investigations and the right to request them in his remarks. On this day, the Innovation Party for the Motherland explained that these are entirely different legal concepts, but former leader Cho Kuk himself used both terms interchangeably, referring to “the right to request or the right to conduct supplementary investigations.” In reality, after affirming the necessity of supplementary investigations under certain circumstances, former leader Cho Kuk continued, “the scope of the right to request supplementary investigations is straightforward ... (truncated).”

Ultimately, the dispute between the Blue House and the Innovation Party for the Motherland centers on whether former leader Cho Kuk’s remarks about supplementary investigations referred to the authority itself or solely to the right to request them.

The Blue House further stated, “The Innovation Party for the Motherland itself has admitted to adjusting the substantive details of prosecution reform proposals in response to changing circumstances. Their stance on the right to supplementary investigations now differs from what it was on August 29, 2025; likewise, their stance on placing the Serious Crimes Investigation Office under the Ministry of Justice has changed since, as the party later adopted the position of placing it under the Ministry of the Interior. This demonstrates that the detailed design of prosecution reform has been continuously adjusted in accordance with ongoing discussions and evolving circumstances.”

The Blue House added, “President Lee’s X post aimed to highlight the overarching significance and direction of prosecution reform, with the goal of achieving irrevocable change within the prosecution organization — a promise that has remained firm since the presidential campaign. Likewise, the Innovation Party for the Motherland has repeatedly changed its position on details such as the right to supplementary investigations, underscoring that the Lee Jae-myung government has ultimately achieved a more advanced outcome compared to the initial debate on prosecution reform.”

Finally, the Blue House stated, “At this stage of prosecution reform, rather than focusing excessively on minor distinctions, we urge all parties to work together to complete the reform process at the highest level of quality, so that the progress made — which is now irreversible — can have a meaningful impact on the everyday lives and livelihoods of the public.”

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