South Korea’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a criminal procedure law revision that would abolish prosecutors’ direct investigation powers and their authority to conduct supplementary probes in cases sent from police. The move effectively ends a system that has been in place since the Criminal Procedure Act was enacted in 1954.
President Lee Jae-myung rejected calls from the opposition to exercise his veto power, saying the situation was not serious enough to deny the National Assembly’s legislative authority.[1][3] At a Cabinet meeting held at the former presidential office in Seoul, Lee said separating investigations and prosecutions is “the first step” toward normalizing what he called an abnormal criminal justice system.[1]
Lee also described the reform as an inevitable measure to bring all powerful state institutions under public control.[1] He said the National Assembly’s passage of the bill did not rise to the level of a constitutional violation, an inability to enforce the law, harm to the national interest or interference with the executive branch’s own authority.[1][3]
The president also addressed concerns about expanded police power, noting that police now have authority to begin and conclude investigations.[1] He said any reform requires close monitoring and rapid follow-up measures if problems emerge, while urging prosecutors to serve as “the prosecutors of all the people” and calling on police to root out internal corruption.[1]
