{"id":1790,"date":"2025-09-26T16:45:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T16:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/?p=1790"},"modified":"2025-09-26T16:45:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T16:45:53","slug":"bill-dismantling-prosecutors-office-reorganizing-ministries-passes-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/2025\/09\/26\/bill-dismantling-prosecutors-office-reorganizing-ministries-passes-assembly\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill dismantling Prosecutor\u2019s Office, reorganizing ministries passes Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"South
South Korea\u2019s National Assembly passes the amendment to the Government Organization Act at the parliament in western Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

South Korea\u2019s National Assembly on Friday approved a bill to dismantle the country\u2019s central prosecutorial body, splitting its powers of investigation and indictment between newly created agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amendment to the Government Organization Act, drafted by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, passed by a vote of 174 to one, with five abstentions. A total of 180 lawmakers participated in the vote. Under the law, the Prosecutor’s Office will be formally abolished in September next year after a one-year grace period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation, introduced at a plenary session the previous day, seeks to create two new bodies: an investigative agency for serious crimes under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and a prosecution office under the Ministry of Justice. Together, they will assume the functions that have long been concentrated in the Prosecutor’s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main opposition People Power Party boycotted the vote after ending its filibuster, which had begun the previous day and was cut short by a separate vote. As soon as the amendment was introduced on Thursday afternoon, the party launched a filibuster in protest. Under South Korean law, each filibuster can last up to 24 hours and may only be terminated with the support of three-fifths of lawmakers. Because a separate vote is required to end debate on each bill, in practice, only one measure can be passed per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Jung Chung-rae, leader of the Democratic Party, hailed the legislation, describing it as the culmination of decades of efforts to curb prosecutorial power and a landmark achievement for President Lee Jae Myung\u2019s reform agenda. His remarks were made during a party leadership meeting at the National Assembly, held ahead of the plenary vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jung, who took the helm of the Democratic Party after Lee was elected, told party leaders that he was proud to fulfill what he called a promise to the people. \u201cI pledged that during the Chuseok holiday, families tuning into the radio on their way home would hear news that the Prosecutor’s Office has been abolished, consigned to history. I am glad to keep that promise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Song Eon-seog, the floor leader of the People Power Party, sharply criticized the amendment ahead of the vote, calling it \u201ca pernicious law that destroys the nation\u2019s future and the livelihoods of its people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Song directed his strongest criticism at the bill\u2019s centerpiece \u2014 the dismantling of the Prosecutors\u2019 Office \u2014 arguing that it would undercut the very aims of prosecutorial reform. \u201cReform should ensure swift and accurate investigations so that fair rulings can be reached quickly, sparing victims further suffering,\u201d he said. Instead, he warned, the measure would \u201cdelay investigations and trials indefinitely, create endless turf battles among investigative agencies and ultimately leave victims worse off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the kind of measure that only criminals would applaud,\u201d he added, dismissing the legislation as \u201ca regressive law masquerading as reform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other provisions of the legislation would shift responsibility for energy policy from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to a newly expanded Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, reflecting the administration\u2019s emphasis on climate policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To streamline economic management, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance would be renamed the Ministry of Finance and Economy, retaining authority over taxation, economic and financial policy, and treasury affairs. Budgeting and fiscal planning, however, would be spun off into a new Planning and Budget Office under the Prime Minister\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most controversial ideas \u2014 dismantling the Financial Services Commission, which oversees the banking and securities sector \u2014 was ultimately dropped. The government retreated from the proposal on Thursday, just 18 days after it was announced, and said the commission would remain intact for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a joint statement, the Democratic Party, the government and the presidential office said they had agreed not to include provisions to split the commission\u2019s policy and supervisory functions or to create a new Financial Consumer Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democratic Party plans to advance bills to establish a Broadcasting and Media Communications Commission, amend the National Assembly Act and revise the Act on Testimony and Appraisal. The People Power Party, however, has vowed to mount separate filibusters against each measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

source : https:\/\/m.koreaherald.com\/article\/10584638<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Korea\u2019s National Assembly on Friday approved a bill to dismantle the country\u2019s central prosecutorial body, splitting its powers of investigation and indictment between newly created agencies. The amendment to the Government Organization Act, drafted by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, passed by a vote of 174 to one, with five abstentions. A total […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1790"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1791,"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790\/revisions\/1791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hmcokorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}