Crime & Justice

South Korean prosecutor general slams prosecution reform bill

Seoul, Apr 13 (EFE).- South Korea’s prosecutor general said Wednesday he would do everything possible to prevent a bill, proposed by the ruling Democratic Party, to strip the prosecution of its investigative powers and described the proposal as unconstitutional.

“It would be a direct violation of the Constitution. If such a bill is pushed for, criminals would cry hurray, and crime victims and people would be left with no place to resort to. In a word, this goes against common sense,” Kim Oh-soo told reporters, local news agency Yonhap reported.

Kim has threatened to resign if the proposed legislation is approved.

The Democratic Party has long been pushing for a bill to remove the investigative capabilities of prosecutors, which many in the Asian country have accused of wielding excessive power used for political purposes and personal gain.

The party, which has a majority in the country’s parliament, decided on Tuesday to send the bill to the chamber for approval before the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol takes office on May 10.

Yoon had defeated the Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung in the presidential elections held in March.

The prosecutor general said that he will do everything in his power to get the parliament, the Constitutional Court and the president to stop the proposed reform.

Last year the Democratic Party managed to strip the prosecutor’s office of its power to investigate electoral fraud, corruption and minor crimes.

These powers were transferred to the police and a newly created body to investigate the conduct of high-ranking public officials, including the president.

That reform led to the resignation of then prosecutor general and now president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, whose office said on Wednesday that the new bill, which seeks to eliminate all remaining investigative powers of the prosecutor’s office so that it is limited only to prosecute, constitutes an act that destroys the constitution. EFE

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