Fifty-one follow-up bills that rewrite South Korea's criminal justice framework ahead of the abolition of the prosecutors' offices (the entire prosecution service) and the launch of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Agency passed the National Assembly plenary session, led by the Democratic Party of Korea. The People Power Party pushed back strongly, calling the process rushed.
The National Assembly held a plenary session on the 17th and approved 51 follow-up bills on prosecution reform, including an amendment to the Act on the Organization and Operation of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, along with revisions to the Public Prosecution Agency Act, the Criminal Procedure Act and the Criminal Act. The measures realign the existing body of criminal justice law to match the abolition of the prosecutors' offices and the launch of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Agency on Oct. 2.
The amendment to the Major Crimes Investigation Agency Act allows prosecutors at the Public Prosecution Agency to request supplementary or renewed investigations from the Major Crimes Investigation Agency or its regional offices in the so-called "seven crime categories" — child abuse, domestic violence, sex crimes, stalking, abuse of people with disabilities and elder abuse. While prosecutors' direct investigative powers are curtailed, the provision is meant to prevent gaps in investigations of crimes against vulnerable victims by allowing such requests.
The amendment to the Public Prosecution Agency Act changes the name of the prosecutors' office to the Public Prosecution Agency and revises prosecution-related wording that remains in the Criminal Act and other statutes to fit the new criminal justice framework. The amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act strips prosecutors of investigative authority and vests it in judicial police officers.
Amendments to the Elderly Welfare Act, the Child Welfare Act, the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes and the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth Against Sex Offenses were also passed. For elder abuse, abuse of people with disabilities, sexual violence and sex crimes against children and adolescents, the bills make it mandatory for police to investigate promptly and then refer every case to prosecutors.
An amendment to the sexual violence punishment act, which had drawn controversy over the protection of underage victims of sexual violence, also cleared the plenary session. Wording that would have limited the admissibility of video recordings of prosecutors' interviews with underage victims was deleted, and a supplementary opinion states that prosecutors and police may cooperate with each other in exceptional circumstances.
Also approved were an amendment to the act on the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, allowing Public Prosecution Agency prosecutors to request supplementary investigations from the office, and an amendment to the Prosecutors Disciplinary Act adding "dismissal" to the list of disciplinary measures for prosecutors. The Rebuilding Korea Party opposed the Corruption Investigation Office bill, however, and some Democratic Party lawmakers abstained, exposing differences within the ruling bloc.
The People Power Party immediately criticized the votes as rushed legislation. Park Hyung-soo, a People Power Party lawmaker, said in remarks opposing the bills, "Can it be called proper reform to push through all of the follow-up work at once, two weeks before enforcement, while changing a 70-year-old criminal justice system?" He added, "Today's voting results will surely be judged by history later on."
The Democratic Party maintains that the bills went through sufficient discussion in each standing committee and legislative subcommittee under an agreement between the rival parties. Kim Sung-hoe, the party's floor spokesperson, said, "Through consultations between negotiating blocs, we agreed to review the individual bills in legislative subcommittees, and all 51 bills were discussed in the relevant standing committees." He added, "They were passed after subcommittee sessions were held and sufficient debate took place."
The plenary session also passed 19 bills related to everyday economic concerns, including an amendment to the Road Traffic Act that allows unmanned enforcement equipment to detect illegal parking and stopping on expressways and motor vehicle-only roads and to impose fines. Lawmakers also approved an amendment to the Act on Fair Transactions in Large Retail Business, which shortens payment deadlines for supplier invoices from the current 60 days to 35 days from the date goods are received in direct purchase transactions, and from 40 days to 20 days from the monthly sales closing date in consignment-style purchase transactions, as well as an amendment to the Microfinance Support Act extending the effective period for contributions to the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency from five years to 15 years.
