The Ruling Party Walks Out in Protest
The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's First Subcommittee on Bill Examination on the 17th tabled the "Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of Illegal Election Interference and State Affairs Manipulation Related to Myung Tae-gyun."
The special prosecutor law includes allegations that 'political broker' Myung Tae-gyun and President Yoon Seok-yeol and his spouse were involved in illegal and false opinion polls used during the 20th presidential election and primary process.
The ruling party protested and walked out, opposing the bill being tabled before the deliberation period had passed.
People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Sang-beom criticized, "If political bills are repeatedly and unilaterally tabled at super speed for specific purposes using exception clauses, the public will inevitably question whether parliamentary democracy is functioning properly."
Park Beom-gye, the subcommittee chair and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, countered, "The prosecution has effectively abandoned the investigation into the Myung Tae-gyun case and consistently engaged in work slowdowns themselves. This issue calls for a wake-up call and swift investigation," adding, "This constitutes a reason why the deliberation period cannot be observed."
The opposition plans to reconvene the subcommittee on the 24th to approve the Myung Tae-gyun special prosecutor law.
Meanwhile, the subcommittee also approved a partial amendment to the Immigration Control Act on the same day, which sets the upper limit of the protection period for foreigners subject to forced deportation orders at nine months and establishes the 'Foreigners Protection Committee' responsible for review.
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