與 "Special Prosecutor Law, Investigation Obstruction and Lee Jae-myung Shield"... Democratic Party "Efforts to Coordinate with Justice Party"

Kim Do-eup: "The special prosecutor proposed by the Democratic Party is to investigate Kim Man-bae, an accomplice of Lee"

Democrats: "We will continue to negotiate and strive to enforce the law"

On the 3rd, the People Power Party criticized the so-called '50 Billion Club' special prosecutor (special investigation) bill, which was solely proposed by the Democratic Party of Korea, as "an obstruction of investigation and a shield for Lee Jae-myung."

On the same day, the Democratic Party of Korea submitted a special prosecutor bill to investigate the so-called '50 Billion Club,' which is suspected of illegal fund receipt related to the Daejang-dong development project.

Yang Geum-hee, chief spokesperson of the People Power Party, stated in a commentary, "To investigate the bribery of the 50 Billion Club, it is inevitable to investigate Kim Man-bae and his group, who are in a conspiratorial relationship with Representative Lee," expressing this view.

Yang Geum-hee, Chief Spokesperson of the People Power Party. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Yang added, "According to the special prosecutor law proposed by the Democratic Party, the special prosecutor will be appointed unilaterally by the Democratic Party," emphasizing, "Handing over Kim Man-bae and his group to a special prosecutor appointed by the Democratic Party for investigation is clearly to shield Representative Lee Jae-myung."

He also said, "Is the Democratic Party now asking to hand over accomplices who testified about bribery to a special prosecutor appointed by the Democratic Party, after trying to persuade Representative Lee Jae-myung's closest aides, Jeong Jin-sang and Kim Yong?" He added, "The public will never tolerate such obstruction of prosecution investigations and shielding acts for Representative Lee."

Yang further pointed out, "Is the Democratic Party so afraid that Kim Man-bae and his group might reveal lobbying details?" He criticized, "The National Assembly has legislated the special prosecutor law through bipartisan agreement to prevent politically biased investigations. It is regrettable that the Democratic Party is disrupting this constitutional order and pouring everything into shielding Representative Lee Jae-myung."

Kim Do-eup, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the People Power Party, also released a statement saying, "Ultimately, the special prosecutor proposed by the Democratic Party intends to directly bring Kim Man-bae and his group, who are the main targets of the prosecution and in a conspiratorial relationship with Representative Lee Jae-myung, for investigation," criticizing, "This is a clear obstruction of prosecution investigations and another attempt to shield Democratic Party Representative Lee Jae-myung."

Justice Party Floor Leader Lee Eun-joo is speaking about the '5 Billion Club Bribery Case' special prosecutor law at the members' meeting held at the protest site in front of the National Assembly Main Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 14th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The opposition party expressed its intention to push the bill through. The special prosecutor bill was primarily proposed by Democratic Party lawmaker Jin Sung-jun. Fourteen others, including Kang Deuk-gu, Kang Min-jung, and Kim Soo-heung, also co-sponsored the bill.

The bill includes provisions to investigate ▲ illegal funds and unfair profit receipt suspicions related to the Daejang-dong development project participants such as the 50 Billion Club ▲ illegal suspicions related to business funds and development profits for the Daejang-dong development ▲ real estate transaction privileges and illegal suspicions involving parties related to the Daejang-dong development project, including the owner of 'Cheonhwa Dongin' No. 3.

Regarding the appointment of the special prosecutor, it proposes that non-presidential negotiation groups (Democratic Party, Justice Party, Basic Income Party, Transition Korea) recommend two candidates, and the president appoints one from among them.

Previously, the 'Busan Savings Bank illegal loan case,' which the Democratic Party insisted should be included, was not explicitly mentioned in the special prosecutor bill.

However, the Democratic Party left room for the Busan Savings Bank illegal loan case to be investigated by using expressions such as 'illegal funds and unfair profits of parties related to the Daejang-dong development project' and 'illegal suspicions related to business funds and development profits for the Daejang-dong development.'

After submitting the special prosecutor bill, Representative Oh, the party floor spokesperson, told reporters, "With the acquittal of former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do, I felt that the current administration's prosecution would not make efforts to investigate the Daejang-dong 50 Billion Club," adding, "We must pass the special prosecutor bill to clearly reveal the suspicions surrounding the Daejang-dong 50 Billion Club."

The Democratic Party also requested cooperation from the Justice Party, which first proposed the '50 Billion Club' special prosecutor bill.

Representative Oh said, "There are some differences in the investigation targets and the special prosecutor recommendation method compared to the contents previously proposed by the Justice Party, and we have not yet narrowed the gap," adding, "We will first propose the bill solely and continue to negotiate to work together with the Justice Party to push the special prosecutor bill through."