National Assembly Passes General Special Investigation for Insurrection and Fourth Kim Geon-hee Special Investigation Act

Support for Special Prosecutor Law on Insurrection: 195 Yes, 85 No, 2 Abstentions
Support for Kim Geonhee Special Prosecutor Law: 195 Yes

On the 12th, the National Assembly held a plenary session and passed the Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of the Unconstitutional Martial Law Declaration and Treasonous Acts by the Yoon Seok-yeol Administration (General Treason Special Prosecutor Act), proposed by the Democratic Party of Korea and others. Additionally, the Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of the Stock Price Manipulation Case Involving First Lady Kim Geon-hee, the fourth such bill (Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act), was also approved.

In the afternoon plenary session, the ruling and opposition parties passed the General Treason Special Prosecutor Act with 195 votes in favor, 86 against, and 2 abstentions out of 283 total members. The Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act was also passed with 195 votes in favor, 85 against, and 2 abstentions out of 282 members present. Among the People Power Party members, those who voted in favor of the General Treason Special Prosecutor Act were Kim Yong-tae, Kim Jae-seop, Kim Ye-ji, Ahn Cheol-soo, and Han Ji-a. For the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act, Kim Jae-seop, Kim Ye-ji, Kwon Young-jin, and Han Ji-a voted in favor.

The newly passed General Treason Special Prosecutor Act specifies the investigation targets to include the background of the deployment of martial law troops during the December 3 martial law incident, and all suspicions including police control of National Assembly access. In addition to the special prosecutor, the act sets the number of special prosecutor assistants at 4, dispatched prosecutors up to 40, special investigators up to 80, and dispatched public officials (excluding dispatched prosecutors) up to 80, totaling around 200 personnel.

This is twice the size of the largest-ever special prosecutor team for the Choi Seo-won state affairs manipulation case and equals the combined size of the prosecution's special investigation headquarters and the police's special investigation unit for this matter.

The right to recommend the special prosecutor has been changed so that the opposition party recommends two candidates and the president appoints one. If the president does not request candidate recommendations within two days of receiving the special prosecutor appointment request from the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Speaker may promptly make the request.

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The Democratic Party also included provisions to prevent the National Intelligence Service, the Presidential Secretariat, and the Security Office from obstructing the special prosecutor's search and seizure. Furthermore, the act obligates the prosecution, police, and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) to comply with the special prosecutor's investigation requests and allows the permanent special prosecutor, passed by the National Assembly the previous day, to support this 'General Treason Special Prosecutor.'

The investigation period is up to 150 days. After a 20-day preparation period following the appointment of the special prosecutor, the investigation is basically conducted within 90 days, with a possible 30-day extension by reporting to the president and the National Assembly. An additional 30-day extension can be granted with presidential approval.

The fourth Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act passed on this day includes 15 investigation targets such as the Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation, luxury handbag bribery, interference in the 8th local elections and the 22nd general election, election fraud in the 20th presidential election, and cases related to Myung Tae-gyun.

While the previously discarded special prosecutor act allowed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to recommend special prosecutor candidates and permitted the opposition to request re-nomination, this time one candidate each from the Democratic Party and non-negotiating parties will recommend candidates, and the president will appoint one.

Since the previous three Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Acts were vetoed by President Yoon exercising his right of reconsideration (veto), there is a possibility that the president may also exercise the veto on the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act passed this day.

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