Democratic Party to Push for Reclamation of Pro-Japanese Property, Prosecutorial Reform

He stated that he had no specific goal of running for the National Assembly, but after the defeat, he had a great realization and decided to prepare for the election with the thought of working for the nation.

The conflict arising from misconceptions amidst left-right ideological confrontation in social movements was a major concern for Rep. Lee Kang-il. He regards restoring the legitimacy and identity of the Republic of Korea as the most crucial task. He dedicated himself to reclaiming pro-Japanese property, believing that only by untangling the knots of past history can they move forward into the future.

Rep. Lee Kang-il cited the unresponsiveness of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration at the time as the biggest reason for the slow progress of the pro-Japanese property reclamation bill. At that time, it was judged that the passage of the law and the operation of the investigation committee would be entirely impossible. He also considered the reality that it takes about six months just to propose a bill. He emphasized that he started this work not for political gain but out of a historical calling.

Rep. Lee Kang-il explained that the bill's advancement accelerated following the commemorative speech on August 15, 2025. After passing the National Assembly plenary session, the working preparatory committee is currently in operation. He stated that the investigation committee will officially go through the process of eradicating pro-Japanese remnants.

Rep. Lee Kang-il explained that investigating pro-Japanese historical sites at the county level is unusual. He emphasized that persistent investigation has consistently yielded results in finding pro-Japanese property. He stated that a systematic investigation has been conducted after such a long preparatory period.

The scope of reclamation has also been expanded to include corporate-owned property and assets held in trust by others.

While the first investigation was government-led, the second phase has opened up participation to citizens and social organizations. Rep. Lee Kang-il explained that participants can receive rewards, aiming to alleviate the financial burden on public interest activists. He emphasized a participatory model in collaboration with civil society organizations.

While the first phase of investigation was a one-dimensional search method, the second phase utilizes AI ontology to analyze multi-dimensional relationship networks. Rep. Lee Kang-il explained that by tracking three-dimensional data such as cadastral maps and changes in registrations, assets can be found dozens to hundreds of times faster than traditional human methods. He stated that Korea's rapid digitalization and AI industry development will be actively utilized.

Rep. Lee Kang-il emphasized that the primary goal of reclaiming pro-Japanese property is not simply to recover a large sum of money. He explained that the amount of real estate reclaimed is not large compared to the current economic scale, drawing a line that this is not a matter of money but of finding Korea's identity. He stated that the ultimate achievement is the realization of historical justice and the restoration of identity, and that system establishment takes precedence over simple reclamation amounts. He added that the activities of the investigation committee should not be solely focused on financial performance.

He explained that he is responsible for veterans' affairs for independence activists, fallen heroes, war veterans and their families. He added that it also includes the respectful treatment of democracy activists. He also mentioned that a bill for victim compensation related to the Yoon Suk-yeol sedition incident is currently being prepared.

He explained that this bill is supplemental legislation aimed at filling legal gaps exposed by the incident. It seeks to enhance the effectiveness of administrative investigations by strengthening exceptions for prior notice when there is a risk of evidence destruction. This is interpreted as an intention to prevent investigation obstruction by large corporations like Coupang in advance.

He believes that the period before the second half of next year, when there are no elections, is the time to pursue legislative achievements. He emphasized that in order to rebound in approval ratings, they must work honestly and create tangible results. He stated a strategy to strive to rebound in approval ratings during the recovery period before the second half of next year.

In response, the host countered that the loss of public trust in police reform, rather than prosecutorial reform, was a greater cause. The host argued that the unstable prosecutorial reform had led to a loss of public trust, and urged attention to police reform issues, even if late. The importance of reforming societal contradictions through prosecutorial reform was discussed.

Rep. Park Sung-joon insisted on 'summoning an excited Han Dong-hoon directly to the hearing,' implying an intention to reframe the Kim Seung-won hearing as a 'Han Dong-hoon hearing.' However, the ruling party leadership showed a negative inclination towards summoning Han Dong-hoon as a witness.

This is interpreted as an effort to prevent controversy over term extension and clarify the next presidential election landscape. It draws a line against some speculation about re-election and political engineering interpretations, urging no further misunderstandings or misinterpretations.

Rep. Lee Kang-il countered the view that the decline in approval ratings was due to insufficient prosecutorial reform. He cited the clear causes of the approval rating decline as the departure of centrist voters and internal party divisions. He explained that there were external evaluations of prosecutorial reform performance and actual side effects. He pointed out that pushing ahead with the complete abolition of the investigative rights for security crimes, despite being told to deliberate sufficiently, resulted in problems, and analyzed that issues arising during the reform process affected approval ratings.

He emphasized that reforms should proceed in a desirable direction with the agreement of many people, minimizing pain and resistance. This is interpreted as reflecting concerns about the departure of centrist voters by mentioning the need for social consensus and pace adjustment when pursuing reforms.

It was revealed that an excessive investigation was conducted during the Moon Jae-in administration due to a directive to strictly crack down on dating violence. A young man in his 20s was fabricated as a perpetrator to boost performance, and faulty investigations were carried out, including failure to secure CCTV footage and coercive induction of confession. Even a false report was filed stating that the victim refused to submit their cell phone.

Despite the exposure of fabricated incidents, the accused police officers were not appropriately punished. This was because the investigations into the accused officers were handled by their colleagues, leading to repeated 'leniency investigations.' Despite requests for supplementary investigations from the prosecution, most cases were processed as no-suspicion or non-indictment. Even currently, these accused officers are handling investigations at other police stations, revealing structural limitations.

The host strongly criticized certain political forces, including Kim Eo-jun, for judging everything as a power game. He pointed out that they have no interest in the impact on the lives of ordinary people. He emphasized that the issue of neglected innocent victims is more important than concerns about retaliatory investigations after a change of government, expressing regret over a political reality that is obsessed with power games rather than people's livelihoods.

He felt a sense of debt for only putting his mother forward. As soon as the incident broke out, Son Seol-bin ran to the police station and decided, 'I must protest,' and from that day on, he decided to reveal his face and name to change the world.

He emphasized that all National Assembly members ran for office for the sake of the people's livelihoods and urged them to listen to the people's voices. He is demanding institutional improvements such as the dismissal and exclusion of manipulative police officers from investigations, and the strengthening of perjury laws. Son Seol-bin expressed his strong determination to continue fighting until these demands are accepted.