Unlike the Democratic Party's bill, limited to 'Deutsche Motors'
Justice Party included as a special prosecutor recommendation body
Democratic Party may attempt further negotiations later
The Justice Party has submitted a special prosecutor bill to the National Assembly regarding allegations of stock price manipulation of Deutsche Motors involving First Lady Kim Geon-hee. Initially, negotiations were underway with the Democratic Party of Korea over a 'dual special prosecutor' for Kim Geon-hee and the Daejang-dong scandal, but as differences could not be reconciled, each party ultimately submitted separate bills.
On the afternoon of the 24th, the Justice Party submitted the "Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the Truth Investigation into the Allegations of Stock Price Manipulation of Deutsche Motors by the President's Spouse Kim Geon-hee" to the National Assembly's legislative affairs office. Eunju Lee, the floor leader of the Justice Party, was the main proposer, with 12 lawmakers participating. Six lawmakers from the Justice Party, along with Kim Young-bae, Sang-min Lee, Yong-jin Park, and Kyung-hyup Kim from the Democratic Party of Korea, Yong Hye-in from the Basic Income Party, and independent lawmaker Yang Jeong-sook joined the initiative.
Justice Party lawmaker Jin-gyo Bae explained the reason for reversing their previous stance and proposing the special prosecutor bill, saying, "The Justice Party had stated that it would observe the prosecution's investigation into the Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation case and would fulfill the role of the National Assembly if the prosecution's investigation proved insufficient. In this situation, we visited the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regarding the inadequate investigation, and as a result, confirmed that the prosecution has no intention to investigate the Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation case."
The Justice Party limited the scope of the special prosecutor to the 'Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation allegations' related to First Lady Kim. In contrast, the special prosecutor bill proposed earlier by the Democratic Party on the 9th included not only the Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation charges but also allegations of illegal donations and sponsorships related to exhibitions by Kobana Contents as subjects for the special prosecutor.
Regarding the method of recommending special prosecutors, the Democratic Party's bill grants the authority to recommend two special prosecutor candidates to negotiation groups not affiliated with the president, whereas the Justice Party's bill allows both 'negotiation groups not affiliated with the president' and 'non-negotiation group parliamentary parties' to recommend two candidates, whom the president would then appoint.
However, since the Democratic Party has announced plans to designate both special prosecutor bills as fast-track (expedited) bills during this month's extraordinary session, there remains a possibility of future negotiations. On the 20th, Democratic Party floor leader Hong-geun Park strongly urged cooperation, stating, "If the Justice Party truly has the will to uncover the truth through a special prosecutor, I strongly urge them to make a clear decision to promote the special prosecutor after tomorrow's Judiciary Committee results." Nonetheless, it is reported that there has been no significant progress in negotiations between the leadership of the two parties so far.
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