People Power Party floor leader Jung Seok-jun on Tuesday proposed convening a ruling-opposition-government consultative body to discuss an overhaul of the criminal investigation system, including the question of prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers.
Speaking at a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly, Jung called on the government to halt the planned abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigation authority "until police have sufficiently restored public trust in their investigative capabilities."
Jung said police had made an emergency arrest of the lead investigator on the "Jang Yun-gi case" — in which a high school girl was killed in a random attack — and argued that the incident had deepened public shock as evidence emerged of an organized cover-up involving not only Jang's father but also the detective who led the investigation.
"This case is turning out to be not merely one of shoddy police work, but a deliberate cover-up compounded by corrupt internal collusion," he added. "Had it not been for prosecutors' supplementary investigation, the truth might have been buried forever."
Jung went on to say that "in such circumstances, criminal investigations cannot be left to the police alone," and that judicial reform "must move in a direction that safeguards public safety and people's livelihoods — not in response to the demands of hardline Democratic Party of Korea members."
He also said the case "shakes the very foundation of public trust in the investigative capabilities of South Korea's police," adding that citizens were now questioning not just police competence but their basic fitness to conduct investigations. He called for "a fundamental diagnosis and remedy, not a patchwork fix that merely compensates for the police's insufficient investigative capacity."
Jung urged the People Power Party to review South Korea's criminal investigation system from scratch, following the 2021 redistribution of investigative authority between prosecutors and police under the Moon Jae-in administration.
mp1256@heraldcorp.com
