Park Hyung-soo, Floor Spokesperson, "Focusing on Handling the Passenger Plane Disaster"
On the 30th, the People Power Party refrained from commenting on the Joint Investigation Headquarters' (Joint Headquarters) request for an arrest warrant against President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is accused of rebellion and abuse of authority related to the December 3 emergency martial law incident, stating they have "no position."
This statement is interpreted as an attempt to avoid directly responding to the allegations against President Yoon, as the political sphere is currently focused on supporting the recovery efforts for the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster, and the emergency response committee led by Kwon Young-se has just been established.
Park Soo-min, the People Power Party floor spokesperson, made this remark when asked by reporters after a briefing on the Jeju Air disaster at Muan Airport in the afternoon about the party's stance on the arrest warrant request for President Yoon.
Earlier, the Joint Headquarters, consisting of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HOCI), the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters, and the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters, requested an arrest warrant for President Yoon that morning. President Yoon has not responded to three summons letters sent by the Joint Headquarters so far.
When asked about the response plan to the "Double Special Prosecutor Act" (the Special Prosecutor Act for Rebellion and the Special Prosecutor Act for Mrs. Kim Geon-hee), which the opposition party including the Democratic Party passed unilaterally in the National Assembly plenary session on the 12th, Park replied, "We need to discuss it at the party meeting tomorrow (31st)."
The Double Special Prosecutor Act, which was sent to the government on the 17th, must be promulgated by January 1 next year by Choi Sang-mok, the acting president, acting prime minister, and deputy prime minister for economic affairs, according to the constitution.
Currently, within the party, there are opinions to request Acting President Choi to exercise the veto power, and if the Special Prosecutor Act returns to the National Assembly, negotiations with the opposition on the method of recommending special prosecutor candidates and the scope of investigation are expected.
Park Hyung-soo, the senior deputy floor leader, said on MBC radio that day, "Based on the opinions gathered so far, we plan to request the exercise of veto power," adding, "If the veto is exercised and the Double Special Prosecutor Act returns to the National Assembly, we are willing to negotiate with the opposition by deleting unconstitutional provisions."
Regarding the appointment of Kwon Young-se as the emergency response committee chairman and the confirmation of the emergency response committee members, Park Soo-min said, "The emergency response committee chairman will be appointed and announced," adding, "We are minimizing all party affairs and floor matters to focus on the accident recovery." Chairman Kwon is scheduled to visit the site as his first official duty after taking office.
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