Jung Chung-rae's attacks on prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers draw fire from pro-Lee faction

Former Democratic Party of Korea leader Jung Chung-rae has been ramping up pressure on Prime Minister Kim Min-seok over remarks about abolishing prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers, calling them a "stalling tactic" — and the pro-Lee Jae Myung faction has fired back, denouncing his comments as "self-defeating sophistry." The clash signals that the intraparty power struggle ahead of the August party leadership convention is now in full swing.

In a Facebook post Friday, Jung said the government had already declared its position in favor of abolishing the supplementary investigation powers and called for urgency. "Every day counts," he wrote. "All forces in the National Assembly that agree on abolishing the supplementary investigation powers must unite and drive this through irreversibly."

Jung said the legislation must pass before Constitution Day on July 17 and noted that the Democratic Party had consistently upheld the principle of separating investigation from indictment. He said he had asked Han Byung-do, the party's acting leader, on Thursday to adopt the bill as an official party measure and to expedite the formation of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

He added that the party would "complete prosecutorial reform through the full abolition of supplementary investigation powers — the symbol and banner of Democratic Party reform."

Jung posted multiple times on Facebook from Thursday through Friday, staking out a clear reformist line on the issue. After Prime Minister Kim announced Thursday that the government supported abolishing the supplementary investigation powers but would not submit its own bill — effectively leaving the matter to the Assembly — Jung said Kim had "passed the buck to the National Assembly" and wrote that he was "praying with both hands clasped that this is not a stalling tactic." Non-mainstream members of the pro-Lee faction criticized Jung for exploiting the prosecutorial reform issue for his own political advancement.

Supreme Council member Hwang Myung-sun addressed the criticism at a Supreme Council meeting Friday. "My heart sank hearing people describe the government's efforts as wasted time and trickery," he said. "The issue of prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers has reached this point through long deliberation between the party and the government, grounded in the deep anguish and pragmatic judgment of President Lee Jae Myung — who has suffered more than anyone from this."

The Democratic Party National Innovation Council also weighed in Friday, calling Jung's remarks "the sophistry of spitting in one's own face." "Judging by his words alone, it is hard to tell whether he is a former leader of the ruling party or a spokesperson for the opposition," the group said, urging Jung to "take responsibility for failing to properly support the first year of Lee Jae Myung's people's sovereignty government and for letting that time go to waste."

Meanwhile, a poll released Friday showed Prime Minister Kim commanding support in the 40 percent range among Democratic Party supporters as the preferred candidate for the next party leader.

The survey, conducted by Gallup Korea from June 23 to June 25 among 1,000 voters aged 18 and older nationwide, asked Democratic Party supporters which of three figures — Kim, Jung or Rep. Song Young-gil — they would most like to see run for party leader at the August convention.

Among the 409 respondents who identified as Democratic Party supporters, 45 percent backed Kim. Jung received support from 24 percent as the preferred next party leader, while Song drew 15 percent. The remaining 15 percent withheld their opinion.

The survey was conducted via computer-assisted telephone interviewing using randomly selected virtual mobile phone numbers. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.