Democratic-Justice, "Agreement on Fast-Track Designation of Special Prosecutor for Kim Geon-hee and 5 Billion Club"

Designated as a Fast-Track Bill for Special Prosecutor on the 27th Plenary Session
Tomorrow, Submission of 'Consent for Fast-Track Bill Designation'

The Democratic Party of Korea and the Justice Party have agreed to initiate the fast-track procedure for the so-called 'dual special investigations' related to the '50 Billion Club' and the special investigation bill concerning First Lady Kim Keon-hee at the National Assembly plenary session on the 27th.

On the 25th, Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, and Lee Eun-ju, the floor leader of the Justice Party, held a meeting at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in the afternoon and announced this decision.

Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Hong-geun and Justice Party Floor Leader Lee Eun-joo are meeting on the 25th at the National Assembly to discuss the special prosecutor law. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

After the closed-door meeting, Floor Leader Park told reporters, "After meeting with Justice Party Floor Leader Lee Eun-ju and discussing the handling plan for the two special investigation bills, namely the '50 Billion Club' suspicion special investigation bill and the special investigation bill concerning First Lady Kim Keon-hee, we agreed to designate them as fast-track bills according to the National Assembly Act at the plenary session on Thursday, the 27th."

Floor Leader Lee explained, "The Justice Party not only proposed the 5 billion won special investigation but also the Kim Keon-hee special investigation bill. We requested that the bills proposed by the Justice Party be designated as fast-track bills, and we reached an agreement on this part in the interest of fair and thorough fact-finding for both cases."

She continued, "The 50 Billion Club special investigation bill, proposed by Justice Party lawmaker Kang Eun-mi, will be designated, and if there is no resolution by the Judiciary Committee within 180 days, the alternative already approved by the Judiciary Committee's first subcommittee will be processed as an amendment at the plenary session." Regarding the Kim Keon-hee special investigation bill, she said, "After designating it as proposed by Lee Eun-ju, if there is no resolution by the Judiciary Committee within 180 days, the two parties will agree on a supplementary amendment concerning the scope of investigation and the special investigator candidate recommendation plan, which will then be processed at the plenary session."

Floor Leader Park stated, "According to the agreement made today, the motion to designate the two special investigation bills as fast-track bills will be directly submitted by the chief deputy floor leaders of both parties tomorrow (the 26th) afternoon."

Floor Leader Lee pointed out, "Regarding the promotion of the special investigation, the Justice Party's principle is that the investigation must focus on substantive fact-finding and truth verification. We have communicated and negotiated with the People Power Party and the Democratic Party based on this principle, but the People Power Party seemed to consider their duty fulfilled by simply submitting the 50 Billion Club special investigation bill to the Judiciary Committee." She added, "Today's agreement on fast-track processing was caused by the People Power Party. They have thrown away the negotiations and time I have offered."

Floor Leader Park also emphasized, "We expect that our designation of the fast-track bills will serve as leverage for changes in the ruling party and government's stance," adding, "This is a significant call for the government and ruling party not to simply defend unconditionally but to sincerely engage in the review of the special investigation bills."