The People Power Party bowed in apology on the 1st, one day before the abolition of the Prosecution Service and the launch of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, saying it felt "a sense of responsibility for failing to stop the Lee Jae-myung government's reckless drive." The party sharply criticized what it called a rushed overhaul of the criminal justice system by the government and ruling party, warning of a gap in public safety.
The People Power Party held a floor meeting outside the Major Crimes Investigation Agency building in Jung-gu, Seoul, that morning. Lawmakers from the party carried picket signs shaped like funeral portraits bearing the words "criminal justice," denouncing the overhaul of the criminal justice system pushed by the government and ruling party, including the abolition of the Prosecution Service. Rep. Kwak Kyu-taek, who presided over the meeting, said, "The Lee Jae-myung government and the Democratic Party of Korea dismantled the prosecution service as they pleased and split it into the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Office through legislative steamrolling." He added, "With this, South Korea's criminal justice system has died."
"Now who will protect the public from crime, and who will protect crime victims?" he said, bowing 90 degrees alongside the lawmakers in attendance in an apology to the public.
Floor Leader Chung Jom-sig said, "At midnight tonight, the Prosecution Service disappears, and the prosecution's power to conduct supplementary investigations disappears with it." He said, "Every means of uncovering police cover-ups and buried cases disappears."
"The Lee Jae-myung government has gone and created a paradise for criminals," he said. "Jang Yun-gi, who was convicted of rape and murder, at least received a life sentence in his first-trial ruling yesterday thanks to the prosecution's supplementary investigation. Without that supplementary investigation, it could have ended with a five-year prison term. Starting tomorrow, who is going to uncover violent crimes like this?"
He added, "Starting tomorrow, the gates open to a hell of collapsing public safety, where rape cannot be identified as rape and murder cannot be identified as murder. Even when a violent crime occurs, detention periods will expire as investigative agencies play ping-pong with the case."
Chung voiced concern about a public safety gap resulting from the elimination of the prosecution's supplementary investigation powers. He argued that shoddy police investigations could set suspects free, causing retaliatory crimes to surge and leaving victims in hiding. "This is a world created by the Lee Jae-myung government, which loves criminals and hates prosecutors, and by the Democratic Party, which is obsessed with beating down prosecutors rather than criminals," he said.
Chung also took issue with the vacancies in the top posts responsible for the new criminal justice system, including the justice minister, the head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and the head of the Public Prosecution Office. His point was that with key institutions operating under acting leadership just as the new criminal justice system takes effect, gaps in directing investigations and prosecutions are unavoidable.
"They nominated a candidate to head the Major Crimes Investigation Agency but have not sent a confirmation hearing request to the National Assembly for more than three weeks," Chung said. "Is the mood of their support base more important than the safety of the public?" He called for the withdrawal of the nomination of Kim Ji-yong as head of the agency and the appointment of a new figure.
Rep. Kang Myung-koo, the opposition committee liaison on the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, said, "The organization called the Major Crimes Investigation Agency launches tomorrow, but they say it is in no condition to work. There is no agency head, there are not enough staff, and even the computers for the staff to use are not properly prepared."
Kang said, "The most important thing in a criminal investigation is the initial response and the initial investigation." He criticized the launch, saying, "The Major Crimes Investigation Agency's launch has already failed. Even combining all applicants from the first and second rounds of hiring, it comes to only 68% of the authorized headcount."
Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk also said, "There is no agency head, no detention facility, no computer network, and they have not even filled all the staff positions," calling it an "empty shell of an agency."
"From now on, investigative runarounds and buried cases will become routine," he said, adding, "In the end, because of one man, a president sacrificing everything to get his own indictment withdrawn, this has become an empty shell of a public safety hell."
