National Assembly Passes Special Counsel Bill Amid Ruling Bloc Push
The Chosun Ilbo · Lee Geon(ChosunBiz) ·
National Assembly Passes Special Counsel Bill Amid Ruling Bloc Push Ruling bloc ends People Power Party filibuster, passes bill targeting 12 cases including Lee Jae Myungs Daejang-dong and Moon Jae-ins THAAD leak allegations; special counsel authority limited per presidential request
The People Power Party had initiated a filibuster the previous day in opposition to the bill’s processing, but it was terminated after one day. According to the National Assembly Act, a filibuster can be concluded if more than two-thirds (180) of the total members vote in favor 24 hours after it begins. The ‘Special Counsel Bill to Investigate Alleged Fabricated Indictments,’ which cleared the plenary session, is expected to be promulgated after a Cabinet meeting as early as next week. The special counsel’s investigation targets 12 cases. Six of these are related to President Lee Jae Myung, including breach of trust cases tied to the development of Daejang-dong, Wirye New City, and Baekhyeon-dong, violations of the Public Official Election Act related to the development of Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong, the case of instructing Kim Jin-sung to commit perjury, the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case, a bribery case related to sponsorship of Seongnam FC, and the case of misusing corporate cards during his tenure as Gyeonggi Province governor.
Allegations raised during the Moon Jae-in administration were also included in the investigation targets. These include suspicions of bribery related to the employment of former President Moon Jae-in’s son-in-law, manipulation of national statistics, the shooting of a government official in the West Sea, the forced repatriation of a defector fisherman, and the leak of confidential information about the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system.
The special counsel’s authority to dismiss prosecutions, which was initially included in the proposal, was excluded in the final amendment. This followed President Lee Jae Myung’s direct request in September to delete the clause. During a press conference at the time, the president stated, “Regarding the authority of the special counsel investigating fabricated indictments, I request that clauses related to the transfer or disposition of existing indictments be deleted and that the focus remain solely on uncovering the truth.” Subsequently, opinions within the ruling bloc continued to call for the deletion of the clause, and it was removed during the review process by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on the 4th.
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