S. Korea's ruling party passes bill to strip prosecution of investigative powers amid opposition protest

SEOUL, July 31 (Yonhap) -- The National Assembly, led by the ruling Democratic Party (DP), passed a bill Friday aimed at abolishing the prosecution's direct investigative powers amid protest from the main opposition party. The revision to the Criminal Procedure Act passed a plenary session in a 175-2 vote with one abstention, after the Assembly voted in favor of a motion to stop a filibuster launched by the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) the previous day. Under the bill, the prosecution will be stripped of its authority to conduct direct investigations, including supplementary investigations. Prosecutors will instead be allowed to request judicial police officers to carry out supplementary investigations. The revision comes as a follow-up to the prosecution reform legislation that calls for the dismantling of the prosecution and creating two new agencies, tasked with handling investigations and indictments, respectively. In apparent protest of the contested bill's passage, acting Prosecutor General Koo Ja-hyeon offered to resign shortly after the vote. "I've just submitted my resignation to take responsibility for the revision," Koo told reporters. The PPP immediately called on President Lee Jae Myung to exercise his veto power. Noting that the bill has a provision allowing the court to relax the requirements for dismissing indictments, Jeong Jeom-sig, the party's floor leader, described it as "tailor-made legislation" for the president whose own criminal trials are currently suspended. "He should use his veto power as he does not want it to be remembered as the 'Lee Jae Myung escape-from-prison law,'" Jeong said during a press briefing at the National Assembly. Cheong Wa Dae said it "respects" parliament's decision on the bill's passage. "We'll do our utmost to ensure the revised law is implemented smoothly and that the public can feel the change in their daily lives," Seong Ghi-hong, senior presidential secretary for public relations and communication, said in a notice to the press. During the plenary session, the Assembly also introduced a revision to the National Assembly Act aimed at shortening the review period for bills designated for fast track from a maximum of 330 days to 90 days. The PPP immediately launched a filibuster against the measure. The filibuster is set to automatically end at midnight when the July extraordinary parliamentary session expires. The bill is expected to be put to a vote at the first plenary session next month. A filibuster can be stopped after 24 hours if at least three-fifths of all parliament members, or 180 lawmakers, vote to end it.