"Nobel Trick Law Development Award Would Go to Gaeddal Lawmaker"
Hwang Woo-yeo: "It Means Creating an Investigation Agency Directly"
Democratic Party: "Reconsider the Special Prosecutor Law for Chae Sang-byeong First, Not the Time to Review Now"
Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized the opposition party for attempting to amend the National Assembly rules to exclude the ruling party's share from the four special prosecutor candidates while pushing for the 'Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor' to become a permanent special prosecutor. He said, "If there were an award for developing the most cunning trick, the Democratic Party of Korea and the Gaeddal (Devoted) lawmakers would surely win it." The Democratic Party explained that they are not considering the amendment of the National Assembly rules related to the permanent special prosecutor, stating that the reapproval of the Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act should come first.
Hwang Woo-yeo, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
At an emergency meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th, Floor Leader Choo said, "The Democratic Party seems to be a group obsessed only with researching tricks to cleverly evade the law." He added, "Last week, they said they would hold an impeachment hearing in the form of reviewing petitions without filing a presidential impeachment motion, and now they are pushing for the Chae Sang-byeong special prosecutor through a permanent special prosecutor." He continued, "There is talk of amending the National Assembly rules so that all four members recommended by the National Assembly to the committee that nominates special prosecutor candidates would be recommended by the opposition party, instead of the current balanced system where the ruling and opposition parties each recommend two members."
Floor Leader Choo pointed out, "If the Democratic Party amends the National Assembly rules like this, it is not according to the law but illegal and unconstitutional," and said, "Just as tax evasion that cleverly avoids the law is not legal, holding a petition review hearing to push for impeachment, and monopolizing the special prosecutor nomination rights by amending the National Assembly rules is unconstitutional, illegal, and a loophole." He added, "If such an amendment to the National Assembly rules is allowed, there would be no need for laws that appoint special prosecutors impartially, and everything would be decided at the discretion of the Democratic Party, which holds an absolute majority." He criticized, "This is like the Nazi-style one-party dictatorship that led Germany to ruin in the past."
He emphasized, "The Democratic Party's push for a permanent special prosecutor and amendment of the National Assembly rules clearly shows that they have no sincerity in uncovering the truth of the Chae Sang-byeong case," and said, "They have revealed their intention to exploit the pain of parents who lost their child for political strife to shield former leader Lee Jae-myung."
The Democratic Party is reportedly considering using the permanent special prosecutor law, which was introduced in 2014 and allows a special prosecutor to be activated immediately without creating a special prosecutor law, as the possibility of the Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act being discarded in a re-vote in the National Assembly is high after President Yoon Seok-yeol exercised his veto power on June 9. Since the permanent special prosecutor law is already enacted, President Yoon cannot exercise veto power over it.
Hwang Woo-yeo, chairman of the emergency committee, also said at the meeting, "The most fundamental core element in establishing a permanent special prosecutor is that the ruling and opposition parties recommend members without considering whether the majority is equal," and added, "If this is broken, the minimum neutrality collapses. They say they cannot trust the police investigation results reviewed by the investigative review committee with civilian experts, and in the end, they want to create an investigative agency that produces the investigation results they desire."
Chairman Hwang said, "The United States abolished the special prosecutor law in 1999 after painfully realizing the harm caused by special prosecutors who provoke political strife without anyone taking responsibility, and lose public trust due to excessive investigations and prosecutions," and added, "The Chae Sang-byeong case is currently under investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). Considering the abnormal election that led to the emergence of satellite parties and the prosecution led by the Democratic Party, it would be reasonable for the public to wait for the CIO investigation as well."
However, the Democratic Party appeared to keep some distance regarding discussions on introducing the permanent special prosecutor law. Lee Hae-sik, senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said after the Supreme Council meeting, "The reapproval of the Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act has not been done yet," and added, "It is not the stage to review it now."
The Democratic Party is looking at the reapproval of the Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act and other matters after the People Power Party's leadership election. The senior spokesperson said, "There is no set date for the reapproval of the Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act," and added, "The People Power Party's leadership election must be over first." He explained, "After the leadership election ends, the convening of the plenary session and the coordination of the legislative schedule will proceed smoothly, and the People Power Party will also have a certain direction regarding the handling of the special prosecutor law." Regarding the plenary session schedule, he said, "Let's see how the situation develops."
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