Investigation Scope of the Insurrection Special Prosecutor Act Expanded from 6 to 11 Cases
Kim Keonhee Special Prosecutor Act Merged with the Myung Taegyun Special Prosecutor Act
The so-called "double special prosecutor bills," referring to the Special Prosecutor Act on Insurrection and the Special Prosecutor Act on Kim Keonhee, proposed by five parties including the Democratic Party, were referred to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's bill review subcommittee of the National Assembly on April 30.
On this day, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a plenary meeting and passed the Special Prosecutor Act for Investigating Facts Related to Insurrection and Foreign Offenses by the Yoon Suk Yeol Administration (Insurrection Special Prosecutor Act), as well as the Special Prosecutor Act for Investigating Facts Related to State Manipulation and Illegal Election Interference Involving Kim Keonhee, Myung Taegyun, and Geonjinbeopsa (Kim Keonhee Special Prosecutor Act), and referred them to the bill review subcommittee. The vote was nine in favor (Democratic Party and Cho Kuk Innovation Party) and five against (People Power Party).
The Insurrection Special Prosecutor Act, which had previously been scrapped after being vetoed twice, has significantly expanded its scope of investigation from six to eleven cases. The investigation targets now include incidents such as alleged provocations of local warfare with North Korea and suspicions of attempting foreign offenses. The special prosecutor will be nominated by the Democratic Party and the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, each recommending one candidate. In addition, requirements for accessing presidential records related to this case have been relaxed.
The Kim Keonhee Special Prosecutor Act will also cover a total of 15 allegations, combining the previously investigated Deutsch Motors case, suspicions of intervention in the Changwon Industrial Complex, allegations of opinion poll manipulation by political broker Myung Taegyun (as stipulated in the Myung Taegyun Special Prosecutor Act), and suspicions of solicitation involving Geonjinbeopsa. The Kim Keonhee Special Prosecutor Act was previously vetoed by former President Yoon and was scrapped after being voted down in a subsequent re-vote in the National Assembly.
The Special Prosecutor Act for Investigating Facts Related to Obstruction and Concealment of the Investigation into the Death in the Line of Duty of Marine Chae, which was submitted in February, was also introduced in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's plenary meeting and then referred to the subcommittee.
The Democratic Party, seeing the possibility of returning to power, is planning to schedule the passage of these bills in the National Assembly plenary session after the June 3 presidential election.
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