Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae praised the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act passed by the National Assembly last Friday under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, saying the dismantling and reform of the prosecution was "an achievement of the people."
In a Facebook post Sunday, Choo said prosecutors had long been "a structurally corrupt group" that internally exploited the Prosecutors' Office Act to form factions and externally colluded with major law firms through preferential treatment of former prosecutors, effectively legalizing a chain of corruption under the protection of a legal cartel. "An unchecked group wielding unlimited power and corruption ultimately brought about the insurrection," she added.
Choo also directed sharp criticism at those opposing the near-total stripping of prosecutorial investigative powers, saying their complaints appeared to stem from damage to "the enormous privileges and godlike status" prosecutors had long enjoyed.
She said senior prosecutors had reportedly been lamenting that "Yoon Suk Yeol, acting like a thug, ruined the prosecution," but argued the institution's downfall was not the result of one individual. "Yoon was merely a highly effective shield that prosecution loyalists used," she said.
Meanwhile, criticism of the Criminal Procedure Act amendment has mounted across the political spectrum, with opposition figures calling it "a bad law and the product of legislative dictatorship."
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon said on Facebook Sunday that the Democratic Party's plan to hold a forum Monday on the amendment — which centers on abolishing prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers and expanding grounds for dismissal of indictments — was farcical. "The Democratic Party, which passed the bad law stripping supplementary investigations and shielding people from punishment, is now holding a forum. They're playing comedy to the very end," he said.
Also Sunday, the Prosecutors' Alumni Association, a group of retired prosecutors, issued a statement condemning the amendment as "legislative dictatorship and an act of tyranny." The group urged President Lee Jae Myung to exercise his veto power and called on the Constitutional Court to rule the law unconstitutional.
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