Operations Committee Clashes Over Permanent Special Prosecutor for Kim Gun-hee and National Assembly Audit Witness Selection

The National Assembly Steering Committee took steps on the 16th during a plenary session to push for a permanent special prosecutor to investigate various allegations, including First Lady Kim Geon-hee's interference in candidate nominations. Meanwhile, the People Power Party opposed the Democratic Party of Korea's proposal to amend the National Assembly rules to exclude the ruling party's recommendation rights for the permanent special prosecutor law, calling it 'unconstitutional.'

On the same day, the Steering Committee, led by the opposition party, held a plenary session in the morning and planned to refer the 'Partial Amendment to the Rules on the Composition and Operation of the Special Prosecutor Candidate Recommendation Committee' to a subcommittee to implement a permanent special prosecutor for First Lady Kim. According to the permanent special prosecutor bill proposed by the Democratic Party, when the president or their family is the subject of investigation, the recommendation rights of the negotiation group of the party to which the president belongs or belonged will be excluded.

The Democratic Party holds the position that a permanent special prosecutor investigation into First Lady Kim is inevitable in connection with Myung Tae-gyun's continuous revelations related to the Presidential Office. The text messages between Myung and the First Lady, disclosed the previous day, have continuously expanded suspicions of their connection and interference in candidate nominations. Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party, emphasized at the party's supreme council meeting that "President Yoon Seok-yeol and First Lady Kim, the parties involved, must directly clarify their positions on the allegations that have surfaced so far."

On the other hand, the ruling party interpreted the permanent special prosecutor as an attempt to ultimately nullify President Yoon's veto power and block the ruling party's recommendation of prosecutors. Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, said regarding the permanent special prosecutor pushed by the opposition, "We will raise issues concerning the proposed rule amendments to be submitted to the Steering Committee."

Park Chan-dae, Chairman of the National Assembly Steering Committee, and Choo Kyung-ho, Floor Leader of the People Power Party, are talking at the Steering Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the same day, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties clashed over the adoption of witnesses for the National Assembly audit. This concerns the request for the attendance of witnesses and reference persons for the audit scheduled for the 31st of this month and the 1st of next month, targeting the Presidential Secretariat and the National Human Rights Commission. The Democratic Party applied to summon First Lady Kim, Myung, and former senior administrative officer Kim Dae-nam of the Presidential Office as witnesses. The People Power Party reportedly included Lee Jae-myung, First Lady Kim Jung-sook, former President Moon Jae-in's son Moon Jun-yong, and daughter Moon Da-hye among their witness requests.

Park Sung-joon, opposition party secretary and Democratic Party lawmaker, said, "The purpose of the National Assembly audit is to point out the current government's faults and improve the lives of the people, but looking at the People Power Party's list of witness adoptions, it is currently the Moon Jae-in administration," adding, "It is the opposition and the legislature's fundamental role to investigate the Presidential Office residence allegations and candidate nomination interference suspicions during the audit."

On the other hand, Bae Jun-young, ruling party secretary and People Power Party lawmaker, criticized, "The Democratic Party did not accept a single one of the 35 witnesses requested by the People Power Party," adding, "They are calling virtually everyone except the president, including the president's spouse, the Minister of National Defense, the head of the Presidential Security Service, and prosecutors." Park Chan-dae, chair of the Steering Committee, said, "It seems difficult to reach a conclusion on the continuously negotiated witness adoption," and then adjourned the session.