▲ Representative Seo Young-kyo, Chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, explains the proposed amendment to the Act on the Appointment of Special Counsel for the Investigation of Insurrection, Foreign Aggression, and State Affairs Manipulation during the first plenary session of the July extraordinary session held at the National Assembly on the 20th.
A bill to extend the investigation period for the second comprehensive special counsel, which is investigating unresolved aspects of three major cases including insurrection, Kim Keon-hee, and the death of Marine Corporal Chae, was submitted to the National Assembly plenary session today (the 20th) under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea.
As the People Power Party has requested a filibuster, the bill is expected to be processed by a vote tomorrow afternoon.
The National Assembly held a plenary session today and submitted the amendment to the Act on the Appointment of Special Counsel for the Investigation of Insurrection, Foreign Aggression, and State Affairs Manipulation by Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim Keon-hee.
The core of this amendment, pushed by the Democratic Party, is to extend the investigation period of the comprehensive special counsel by an additional 30 days.
If the bill is passed, the deadline for the special counsel investigation will be extended from the current 24th to August 23rd.
The comprehensive special counsel, which launched in February, has already extended its period twice under the existing law.
The amendment includes provisions to add obstruction of audit by public officials to the scope of the special counsel's investigation and to increase the number of dispatched public officials from the current 130 to 150.
It also mandates the designation of up to 10 special investigators with at least five years of legal experience as prosecutors for maintaining public charges and establishes a new clause requiring the comprehensive special counsel to share or consult on investigation records with the three major special counsels.
Representative Seo Young-kyo of the Democratic Party, who was in charge of explaining the bill, emphasized the necessity of the legislation, stating, "The intention is that the comprehensive special counsel investigation is facing difficulties in completely rooting out the remnants of insurrection by Yoon Suk Yeol and others, and the remnants of state affairs manipulation by Kim Keon-hee and others, due to limitations in time and personnel."
Democratic Party Floor Leader Han Byung-do also stated at a general meeting of lawmakers, "Uncovering the substantive truth of the insurrection is not a matter of ruling or opposition parties, nor is it a matter of progressives or conservatives," adding, "I cannot understand at all why the People Power Party is resisting so fiercely."
The People Power Party strongly protested, defining this bill as an attempt to suppress the opposition party and an extension of a public security-driven political situation.
Representative Yoon Sang-hyun of the People Power Party, who was the first to participate in the filibuster, pointed out, "If the period has been fully utilized, the case should naturally be transferred to the National Office of Investigation," adding, "The special counsel has become a permanent investigative agency."
People Power Party Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik said at a protest rally in the Rotunda Hall, "We strongly condemn the arrogance and ruthlessness of the ruling party, which is only trying to extend a public security-driven political situation to suppress the opposition."
The Democratic Party plans to end the debate after 24 hours from the start of the filibuster with the consent of at least three-fifths of the registered members in accordance with the National Assembly Act, and process the bill by a vote tomorrow afternoon.
However, Park Byung-eon, senior spokesperson for the Rebuilding Korea Party, stated, "It is somewhat difficult to proceed in a phase of automatically cooperating with the Democratic Party as in the past," and added that they would finalize their position at a general meeting of lawmakers tomorrow.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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