A document titled "Review and Opinion on the Direction of Criminal Procedure Law Revision Based on the Principle of Separating Investigation and Indictment," prepared by Progressive Party lawmaker Son Sol, is seen at a plenary session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly on Wednesday. [Yonhap]
A document titled "Review and Opinion on the Direction of Criminal Procedure Law Revision Based on the Principle of Separating Investigation and Indictment," prepared by Progressive Party lawmaker Son Sol, is seen at a plenary session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

Hard-liners aligned with the ruling camp renewed their call Thursday for the complete abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers, hosting a National Assembly forum even as divisions persist within the ruling party over whether to scrap the authority.

Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Jung Chung-rae, Seo Young-gyo, Kim Young-ho, Kim Yong-min, Choi Min-hee and Lee Sung-yoon, along with Rebuilding Korea Party lawmakers Park Eun-jeong and Hwang Woon-ha, and independent lawmaker Choi Hyeok-jin, co-hosted the forum Thursday morning. Titled "Why Is Retaining Supplementary Investigation Powers a Problem? A Forum on Revising the Criminal Procedure Law Through Cases of Prosecutorial Abuse of Power," the event was held at the National Assembly.

Jung, who is seeking re-election as party leader, said supplementary investigation powers are investigative powers in their own right and that retaining them runs counter to the fundamental principle of separating investigation from indictment. "Supplementary investigation powers must be abolished entirely, and various problems must be resolved through other means," he said.

Jung warned that restoring investigative authority to prosecutors on the grounds that police investigations cannot be trusted would revive the unchecked conduct prosecutors had long displayed, dealing a severe blow to the democratic and reform camp that had long sought prosecutorial reform. "The complete abolition of investigative powers — including supplementary investigation powers — has been debated and sought for decades. It is time to finish the job," he said.

Kim Yong-min said bold action must be taken against a prosecution service that cannot be reformed from within. "Seventy years have passed while we swept problems under the rug," he said. "Now we must bring those problems to light, debate them and resolve them. Time is running short."

Kim added that he was taking seriously the wide range of views urging that victims and socially vulnerable groups not be neglected. "Even without granting prosecutors direct supplementary investigation powers, it is entirely possible to develop alternatives — and police in particular are working on a variety of options," he said.

Han In-seop, an emeritus professor at Seoul National University who presented at the forum, acknowledged concerns about police investigations but argued that prosecutors, acting as horizontal partners rather than supervisors, could adequately oversee police work through warrant-request authority and a strengthened power to demand supplementary investigations. He also proposed introducing a cross-agency investigation system to curb police misconduct, establishing an investigative human rights ombudsman, and elevating victims to a "quasi-principal" standing within judicial proceedings.

Seo Bo-hak, a professor at Kyung Hee University, rebuffed arguments for retaining supplementary investigation powers in exceptional cases. He warned that carving out exceptions for categories such as "crimes against the socially vulnerable and everyday livelihoods" would allow the scope to expand without limit, turning the exception into the rule, fostering moral hazard among primary investigative agencies and dragging down the overall quality of the country's investigative capacity.


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