PPP holds field assembly outside new investigative agency
4 key posts operating under acting heads, party warns of leadership vacuum
Jang Dong-hyeok: 'Case cover-ups will follow one after another'
The People Power Party took its fight to the streets Thursday, one day before the abolition of the Prosecution Service and the launch of two successor agencies — the Public Prosecution Service and the Serious Crime Investigation Agency. The party criticized the ruling camp for pressing ahead with a sweeping overhaul of the criminal justice system without adequate safeguards, raising concerns about the police's investigative capacity, the potential suppression of cases and a leadership vacuum at the top of law enforcement.
PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok, floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik and other party leaders held a field assembly of lawmakers outside the Serious Crime Investigation Agency headquarters, where they focused their fire on the investigative gaps they say will follow the Prosecution Service's dissolution.
Speaking at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly just before the assembly, Jang said, "All national chaos and harm to the public that unfolds from tomorrow will rest squarely on the shoulders of President Lee Jae Myung and the Democratic Party." He added that everyone responsible for "turning the Republic of Korea into a public-safety hell will inevitably face the court of history."
The PPP argued that separating investigative and prosecutorial functions after the Prosecution Service's abolition would increase the risk of shoddy police investigations and the suppression of cases. The party particularly took issue with the new criminal justice framework taking effect before sufficient police reform and complementary measures had been put in place.
"Police reform has not even begun, so case cover-ups will follow one after another," Jang said. "In 2026, the Republic of Korea has regressed to a Wild West era where every person must protect themselves and their family on their own."
The party also criticized the fact that the heads of the key agencies set to lead the new criminal justice system have yet to be appointed. The PPP said all four top posts — the justice minister, the prosecutor general of the Public Prosecution Service, the director of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the national police chief — are currently filled by acting officials, warning that a command vacuum could emerge in the early days of the new system.
"The reality is absurd — both the head who will lead investigations and prosecutions and the official responsible for coordinating investigative authority are acting figures," Jang said. He added that the situation had come about because the administration was "ultimately searching for someone who would drop the charges against President Lee Jae Myung."
Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik raised concerns about the scope of supplementary investigations. The PPP contends that limiting the Serious Crime Investigation Agency's supplementary investigative authority to certain categories of crimes will make it harder to uncover the full truth in cases.
"I hope it never comes to this, but if something like the Jang Yun-gi case were to happen again, the truth would be buried and suppressed in a country where supplementary investigation has been eliminated," Jeong said.
He added that the hasty fix the government had offered — allowing the Serious Crime Investigation Agency to conduct supplementary investigations for seven categories of crimes — fell short, because murder was not among them. "The Jang Yun-gi case would therefore not be subject to supplementary investigation by the agency," he said.
The party leadership also framed Thursday's field assembly as part of a broader campaign of street-level opposition to government policy. Jang had initially considered attending the Armed Forces Day ceremony, which President Lee and ruling party figures were also expected to attend, but chose instead to join the field assembly.
Chief Spokesperson Park Chung-gwon, speaking on YTN Radio, explained the purpose of the protest action. "The ruling camp has produced an incalculable number of failures — economic collapse, the stock ETF debacle, the real estate crisis, the farmland crisis, the judicial breakdown, the security breakdown," he said. "If our party puts up no resistance at all, who will speak for the citizens who are anxious and filled with anger?"
mp1256@heraldcorp.com
