Jang Hye-young: "Not Fundamentally Against 'Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor'... It's a Methodological Issue"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] As the Democratic Party of Korea pushes for so-called "double special investigations" including the 'Kim Geon-hee First Lady Special Investigation' and the 'Daejang-dong Special Investigation,' the Justice Party, which opposes the Kim Geon-hee special investigation, pointed out that "it is not a fundamental opposition" but that the method is inappropriate.

On the 14th, Jang Hye-young, the Justice Party's senior deputy floor leader, said on SBS's "Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show," "From a methodological perspective, what is needed now is to clearly start with a focused lesson on the prosecution's biased investigation for the people once again," expressing this view.

He said, "I think a special investigation can be one method," but also pointed out, "the Democratic Party says it will bring the Kim Geon-hee special investigation to the plenary session fast track, requiring 180 seats, but in a way, it is the most drastic measure that can be taken in the National Assembly."

He argued that rather than the drastic fast track, it is a priority to urge the prosecution to summon and investigate, thereby pressuring the prosecution. He explained, "The investigation into Kim Geon-hee started around October 2020, during the latter half of the Moon Jae-in administration, and it has been dragging on without conclusion until now, and not even a single summons investigation has been conducted. So, our approach is to clearly demand, 'You haven't summoned her even once, right? Are you not going to summon her? Do it now.' This is a different methodological perspective we have in resolving the situation."

He emphasized the need to build public consensus by demanding the prosecution to summon for investigation. Jang, the senior deputy floor leader, said, "As lawyers know, the fast track is only called fast track, but in reality, it is a slow track," adding, "the special investigation was actually proposed last September, and logically, it can be handled within the Judiciary Committee as part of the routine parliamentary agenda."

However, the Judiciary Committee is chaired by Kim Do-eup of the People Power Party, and Jo Jeong-hoon of the Transition Korea Party opposes it, making passage difficult. Jang criticized, "Although the proposal was made, we have not really heard of any concrete efforts to persuade Representative Jo, who opposes it within the Judiciary Committee," and added, "after proposing it in September, suddenly in the February National Assembly, the Democratic Party decided to take the drastic step of fast tracking and is now pushing other parties to follow along."

He further said, "If the special investigation could be promoted by reaching some consensus with Representative Jo or within the Judiciary Committee, it could actually be done much faster," and "So, the fast track is not really a fast track but a slow track as its name suggests." He argued that the Democratic Party should first take measures such as persuading Representative Jo rather than pushing for the fast track.