"Special Prosecutor, Merely a Political Gesture Claiming Innocence"
No Physical Time Left if Not Resolved by Year-End
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, are attending the Local Autonomy Awards and Korea Regional Development Awards ceremony hosted by the Korea Local Newspaper Association at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 27th, exchanging greetings. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group
[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Both ruling and opposition parties are calling for the introduction of a special prosecutor regarding the Daejang-dong development allegations, but considering the remaining schedule until the presidential election, there are criticisms that this is merely a 'political gesture.' If negotiations for the special prosecutor are not completed by the end of this year, it is highly likely that the special prosecutor will be effectively canceled.
On the 28th, Yoon Ho-jung, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, plan to meet at the National Assembly to discuss the agenda for the special session, including the special prosecutor. The floor leaders of both parties also held negotiations the day before but failed to find common ground. Since the Daejang-dong allegations surfaced in September this year, there have been discussions about a special prosecutor in the political sphere, but both sides have been sharply divided over the appointment method and investigation targets. The Democratic Party argues for investigating the allegations through a standing special prosecutor system, for which legislation has already been prepared. On the other hand, opposition parties such as the People Power Party and the People Party insist that since the government and ruling party have significant influence over the appointment process of the standing special prosecutor, a separate special prosecutor should be appointed.
The problem is that there is no time regardless of the method used to introduce the special prosecutor. For example, even if the special prosecutor law proposed by the opposition on September 23 is followed, it must go through the relevant standing committee review and be passed in the plenary session. After that, the Korean Bar Association recommends four candidates, which must be narrowed down to two through negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties, followed by the president's appointment procedure. Even after the special prosecutor is appointed, a 20-day preparation period for the investigation is guaranteed by law. If the goal is to release the investigation results just before the presidential election, the possible investigation period is only about a month.
In the case of the standing special prosecutor advocated by the Democratic Party, legislative procedures and other time can be shortened, but there is little difference in the time required for the recommendation process by the special prosecutor recommendation committee, the president's appointment process, and the 20-day preparation period. Considering that 71 days remain until next year's presidential election, if no consensus is reached by the end of the year when the December special session expires, the special prosecutor before the election is expected to be effectively canceled.
On this day as well, both ruling and opposition parties did not budge from their existing positions. Floor leader Yoon said at the morning floor strategy meeting, "We demand that the People Power Party immediately agree to the 'three no's (no conditions, no sanctuary, no delay)' neutral standing special prosecutor that the Democratic Party requests." Floor leader Kim also countered at the same time during the floor strategy meeting, "The standing special prosecutor is a fake special prosecutor," adding, "They plan to appoint a pro-government figure favored by the Democratic Party and candidate Lee as a puppet and conceal the main culprits just like the prosecution did." The positions of the presidential candidates from both parties are not much different. Candidate Lee declared on the 18th of last month, "Let's have a special prosecutor without conditions," while candidate Yoon pressured the opponent the day before by saying, "If you want a debate, accept the special prosecutor first."
Professor Shin Yul of the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Myongji University said, "It is physically impossible to produce results with only one month of investigation after subtracting the time required to prepare the special prosecutor," adding, "Discussing the special prosecutor law now is unlikely to have any meaning beyond a political gesture implying that we are innocent and therefore need a special prosecutor."
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