South Korea’s powerful prosecution service, long accused of wielding justice selectively, is to be dismantled under a sweeping reform plan that government officials and ruling party lawmakers say is necessary to curb abuse of authority.
But critics warn the move may create constitutional disputes and deepen political fault lines.
President Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which holds a majority in the National Assembly, joined forces with the Presidential Office and the cabinet on Sunday to pass legislation breaking up the existing prosecution structure.
Under the measure, a new agency will oversee investigations while a separate body will hold powers of indictment – functions prosecutors had until now monopolised.
This is a disaster that the prosecution has brought on itself
“This is a disaster that the prosecution has brought on itself by enforcing the law unfairly,” Lim Sung-hack, a political scientist at the University of Seoul, told This Week in Asia.
