Overview
- The National Assembly voted Friday to revise the Criminal Procedure Act and bar prosecutors from conducting direct and supplementary investigations, with the plenary passing the measure after lifting an opposition filibuster.
- Lawmakers also approved a bipartisan special-counsel law to probe the June 3 ballot shortages and extended Parliament's election inquiry to allow recounts and parallel investigations.
- The Democratic Party's reform creates two new agencies to split investigation and indictment roles and allows prosecutors to request additional police work and to oversee certain victim protections.
- Acting Prosecutor General Koo Ja-hyeon and former prosecutors warned the change could block truth-finding and weaken victim safeguards, while reform supporters say it will curb politically motivated probes.
- Right-leaning outlets emphasized official and prosecutorial warnings about public safety, while other coverage focused on the reform's goal to limit prosecutorial power and the immediate political clash over the bills.