Judiciary Committee Passes Amendment to Extend Itaewon Crush Special Investigation Committee by One Year

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a plenary meeting today and passed an amendment to the Special Act on the October 29 Itaewon Crush, which extends the activity period of the Special Investigation Commission on Truth-Finding and Prevention of Recurrence by one year.

If the amendment passes the plenary session, the special committee will operate until September 16, 2027.

Immediately following the passage, Special Committee Chairperson Song Doo-hwan said in his remarks, "We will approach our work deeply bearing in mind the various wise opinions of lawmakers, the hearts of bereaved families, victims, and the public," adding, "We will do our utmost to fulfill our mission without failing those expectations."

Earlier today, about two weeks before the scheduled expiration of the special committee's activities, the amendment passed the plenary session of the Public Administration and Security Committee.

The ruling and opposition parties also exchanged sharp words during the process of appointing Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Eui-kyeom as the ruling party secretary of the Judiciary Committee.

People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Kyu-taek brought up the fact that the Democratic Party did not appoint lawmaker Na Kyung-won as the opposition secretary, criticizing, "To humiliate her, they even set up a secret ballot box inside the Judiciary Committee and held a vote. Now that a wrong precedent has been set, we must follow that precedent."

During this process, lawmaker Kwak also re-examined past controversies, such as lawmaker Kim's allegations regarding real estate speculation in Heukseok-dong and allegations raised against independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon regarding a drinking party in Cheongdam-dong.

Regarding this, lawmaker Kim explained, "The Heukseok-dong case was cleared of charges by the prosecutors' office," and added, "As for the Cheongdam-dong case, wasn't that during a precarious time, a time of confrontation and clash? I will faithfully participate in the trial regarding that matter."

Afterwards, lawmaker Kwak withdrew his demand for a secret ballot, and lawmaker Kim was appointed as secretary in accordance with custom.

Immediately after his appointment, lawmaker Kim stated, "If there are any concerns from opposition lawmakers, I will make every effort to ensure those concerns do not become reality."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.