The Democratic Party of Korea has the right to request reconsideration (right to veto) including the ‘Double Special Prosecutor’s Office’ (insurrection and Kim Kun-hee Special Prosecutor Act), the ‘Four Agricultural Acts’ (Grain Management Act, Agricultural and Fishery Product Price Stabilization Act, Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Countermeasures Act, and Agricultural and Fishery Accident Insurance Act amendments) and the National Assembly Act and National Assembly Testimony Appraisal Act amendments. We are pursuing a plan to hold a plenary session of the National Assembly for four consecutive days to re-vote the eight bills that were passed. The position is that the plenary session will be held in ‘salami’ style every day, and eight bills will be re-voted sequentially, and questions will be asked to the government about the economic situation and the Muan Jeju Air disaster during the plenary session. The People Power Party is focusing on cracking down on stray votes within the party, emphasizing its policy of rejecting the bill in a re-vote, saying, “The Twin Special Prosecutors’ Act is unconstitutional and illegal.”
● Democratic Party: “Prompt processing starting with the twin special prosecutors”
The Democratic Party requested National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik to hold plenary sessions for four consecutive days from the 7th to the 10th. The plan is to deal with the twin special prosecutors first and then re-vote the remaining six bills in order of priority. However, Chairman Woo is known to have a negative stance on the plan to hold plenary sessions for four consecutive days, saying that agreement between the ruling and opposition parties takes priority.
An official from the Democratic Party of Korea said in a phone call on the 5th, “We are considering a plan to submit the bill to a re-vote around the 7th, starting with the special prosecution, and then sequentially re-elect it starting around the 13th if it is rejected.” In order for a bill returned to the National Assembly through a veto to be passed, more than two-thirds (200) of the registered lawmakers must agree.
Within the Democratic Party, there is growing support for the opinion that, considering the possibility of President Yoon’s arrest, the party should focus its efforts on passing the Insurgency Special Prosecutor Act, among the Dual Special Prosecutors’ Act. If the court issues an arrest warrant for President Yoon, the prosecution must decide whether to indict him or not within the 20-day detention period. However, if the prosecution indicts first due to the delay in passing the Special Prosecution Act on Insurrection, the argument of ‘uselessness of the special prosecution’ will inevitably be raised.
There were also claims that a permanent special prosecutor should be launched as soon as possible before the Insurrection Special Prosecutor Act is passed. At the party’s general meeting held on the 5th, a strong opinion was reportedly expressed that Acting President Choi Sang-mok should be impeached on the grounds that he is not proceeding with the process of requesting the recommendation of a permanent special prosecutor for the civil war.
● 與 “‘Double Special Prosecution’ Party Opinion Rejected”
The People Power Party criticized the Democratic Party’s policy of ‘salami plenary session’ as “a political show for show.” People Power Party floor spokesperson Seo Ji-young met with reporters and said, “The opposition party has not shared any information regarding the plenary session schedule.”
The People Power Party plans to reject the Dual Special Prosecutors Act based on party lines. There are predictions within the party that since both the twin special prosecution laws have a wide scope of investigation targets, a dust-up investigation targeting the ruling party will inevitably proceed. In particular, in the case of the Kim Kun-hee Special Prosecutor’s Office, there are concerns that the entire party could become a target of investigation as the investigation targets include Myung Tae-gyun’s suspicions of illegal public opinion polls in the 2022 local elections, the 2024 general elections, and the 20th presidential election.
The People Power Party leadership believes that in the case of the Kim Kun-hee Special Prosecutor Act, the number of departure votes increased from ‘0 → 4 → 6 votes’ in the previous three re-votes, but the scale of additional departure votes will not be large in this re-vote. An official from the People Power Party said, “The opposition party’s revision of the treason charge has increased opposition within the party, and the unconstitutional elements of the Dual Special Prosecutors’ Act have been sufficiently known, so there is not much concern about a defection vote.” Rep. Kim Sang-wook of the People’s Power Party, who previously expressed support for the Dual Special Prosecutors’ Act, also said in a phone call on the same day, “As the Democratic Party revised the treason charge in the impeachment bill, the small group of lawmakers who supported impeachment were also greatly disappointed.” “It’s an atmosphere where it’s much more difficult to crawl in,” he said.
The Democratic Party also believes that the level of unity within the People Power Party has recently increased and that there is a high possibility that the Twin Special Prosecutors Act will be rejected in a re-vote. For this reason, if the Special Prosecutor Kim Kun-hee Act is rejected in a re-election and is scrapped, a plan is being considered to propose a fifth Special Prosecution Act while excluding the ‘Myung Tae-gyun Gate’ suspicions. A Democratic Party official said, “Isn’t there a lot of resistance from People Power Party lawmakers because of the suspicions related to Myung Tae-gyun?” and “We can remove those suspicions and pursue a separate special investigation.” It is known that the Democratic Party is considering a ‘third party recommendation’ regarding the special prosecutor recommended by the opposition party, which is considered a key issue in the Dual Special Prosecutors’ Act.
Reporter Dabin Yoon [email protected]
Reporter Kim Seong-mo [email protected]
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