The Third Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act Passes Plenary Session Led by Opposition Party... Ruling Party Boycotts

Revised Special Prosecutor Law... Investigation Targets Reduced from 14 to 2
Opposition Pressure... Ruling Party Maintains Unified Front
Ruling Party Adopts Party Consensus on Special Inspector Appointment

The third Special Prosecutor Act concerning First Lady Kim Geon-hee (Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act) passed the plenary session of the National Assembly. The ruling party walked out of the plenary session in protest against the opposition's unilateral vote. As the ruling party united around the 'appointment of a special inspector,' there are expectations that the third Special Prosecutor Act may also be nullified in a re-vote.

On the 14th, the revised bill for the 'Special Investigation on First Lady Kim Geon-hee' is being passed solely by the opposition party in the National Assembly plenary session. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

On the 14th, the National Assembly held a plenary session and passed the "Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of Stock Price Manipulation and Other Incidents Involving President Yoon Seok-yeol's Spouse Kim Geon-hee (Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act)" with 191 members present and 191 votes in favor.

This is the third Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act to pass the plenary session. The National Assembly passed the first Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act in December last year, and the second was passed in September this year, led by the opposition party. However, President Yoon Seok-yeol exercised his veto power, and the bill failed to pass in the National Assembly's re-vote, a situation that has repeated. President Yoon maintains the opinion that bills passed without bipartisan agreement are unconstitutional.

The opposition party reflected the ruling party's demands and presented the third Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act. The scope of investigation was reduced from the original 14 suspicions to the Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation suspicion and the so-called 'political broker' Myung Tae-gyun's involvement in candidate nomination and state affairs manipulation suspicion. Other suspicions such as preferential treatment on the Yangpyeong highway and receipt of luxury bags were excluded during the bill revision process. Additionally, a so-called 'third-party recommendation method' was added, whereby the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court recommends four candidates for the special prosecutor, and the Democratic Party and non-negotiating parties each recommend one candidate to the President. However, the opposition also included a veto right in the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act, allowing rejection if the opposition is dissatisfied with the Chief Justice's list of special prosecutor candidates.

The opposition is interpreted to have revised the contents of the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act to draw defecting votes from the ruling party. This is because at least four defecting votes occurred from the ruling party during the re-vote of the second Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act. Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at a policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the day, "The Democratic Party prepared the revised bill by largely accepting the demands of the People Power Party solely to follow public opinion," adding, "Unconditional opposition without consistency or justification only fuels public anger."

Opposition: "Unconditional opposition only fuels public anger"... Ruling party united around 'special inspector'

Handonghun, leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

However, the government and ruling party appear to have formed a united front in the face of the third Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act. This is why there are expectations that the third Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act will also be discarded through a re-vote. Representative Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party said during the debate, "Seeing that only two suspicions are subject to the special prosecutor now, I think the suspicions raised by the Democratic Party so far were fake and the special prosecutor acts were bogus," adding, "In fact, the opposition is choosing the special prosecutor, which is an unprecedented trick worldwide." People Power Party members left the plenary session and did not participate in the vote. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo also said at a press briefing held at the Government Seoul Office the day before, "I think the third Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act contains many unconstitutional elements," and "If it formally passes the National Assembly, we will review it carefully."

The ruling party plans to respond to controversies related to First Lady Kim through a special inspector. The People Power Party held a party meeting that day and decided as a party policy to proceed with the appointment process of the special inspector. It is known that all members agreed by clapping hands without a vote. In addition, the party plans to recommend President Yoon to exercise veto power against the third Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act at the party level. After the party meeting, People Power Party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho told reporters, "Regarding the specific progress of the special inspector appointment, it was decided to entrust it to the floor leader," adding, "No one opposed the special inspector recommendation. We adopted it as a party policy to show that we are united and to reflect the consensus."