Many Witnesses Related to Special Prosecutor Adopted by Legislation and Public Administration Committees
Yoon and People Power Party Under Pressure... Public 'Anti-Yoon Sentiment' Strengthened
At the Cabinet meeting on the 30th, the request for reconsideration (veto) on the special prosecutor laws concerning 'First Lady Kim Geon-hee' and 'Chae Sang-byeong' was approved. Meanwhile, opposition parties including the Democratic Party of Korea have announced an all-out offensive with dual special prosecutor laws against First Lady Kim at the first National Assembly audit of the 22nd National Assembly next month. Each standing committee of the National Assembly has adopted numerous witnesses related to First Lady Kim and the special prosecutors for the audit. The opposition plans to maximize public sympathy for the 'anti-Yoon sentiment' by increasing pressure on the ruling party and highlighting the burden caused by President Yoon's continuous use of veto power.
According to the Democratic Party, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee has adopted as witnesses for the audit starting on the 7th of next month: President Yoon's wife First Lady Kim Geon-hee, her mother-in-law Choi Eun-soon, and Kwon Oh-soo, former chairman of Deutsche Motors and a key figure in the stock manipulation allegations. Regarding the Chae Sang-byeong special prosecutor, former Marine Corps 1st Division Commander Lim Seong-geun, former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop, and former Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok are included. The Democratic Party plans to apply comprehensive pressure on First Lady Kim by adopting as witnesses key figures involved in the 'nomination interference' allegations, such as Myung Tae-gyun, CEO of the Mirae Korea Research Institute, and former lawmaker Kim Young-sun.
Allegations of illegal extensions at the Presidential Office and the change of the Seoul-Yangpyeong highway terminus are also subject to verification. To this end, the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee and Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee have included as witnesses Yoon Jae-soon, Secretary General of the Presidential Office, and Kang Seong-mok, chairman of Kyungdong Engineering, respectively, aiming to uncover the truth during the audit.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on the 20th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
The opposition's focus on clarifying various allegations surrounding First Lady Kim through the audit has two main reasons. First, they want to clearly establish that the responsibility for the paralysis of state affairs lies with President Yoon's continuous use of veto power. The Democratic Party has made it clear that normalizing state administration is impossible without clarifying the allegations against First Lady Kim. At the Supreme Council meeting that day, Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Chan-dae emphasized, "An overwhelming majority of the public demands that the truth be revealed through a special prosecutor."
The other reason is that the repeated use of veto power by the president is intensifying public fatigue, strengthening the 'anti-Yoon' sentiment, and increasing the possibility of cracks within the ruling party. Unlike the pro-Yoon (pro-Yoon Seok-yeol) faction, a current is forming within the pro-Han (pro-Han Dong-hoon) faction that the government and ruling party must resolve the various allegations surrounding First Lady Kim in some way.
The Democratic Party is closely monitoring recent fluctuations between the ruling party's pro-Han and pro-Yoon factions. In fact, the special prosecutor bill returned to the National Assembly due to the president's veto can be passed if at least 8 out of the ruling party's 108 seats vote in favor during the re-vote. The Democratic Party intends to process the re-vote on the special prosecutor law related to First Lady Kim's election law violations before the statute of limitations on the election law expires on the 10th of next month.
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