Call for Passage of Special Prosecutor Bill at Plenary Session on the 30th
On December 28, Jang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, called for the passage of the "Unification Church Special Prosecutor Act," stating, "Our party and the Reform New Party must ensure that the special prosecutor bill we jointly proposed passes the plenary session on the 30th."
At a press conference held at the National Assembly that day, Jang said, "The Unification Church special prosecutor bill proposed by the Democratic Party is a diversionary bill intended to block the special prosecutor bill proposed by the opposition parties." He continued, "There are differences between the Democratic Party's bill and ours regarding the scope of investigation and the right to recommend a special prosecutor. Why are they so determined to block the investigation into Special Prosecutor Min Junggi? Why are they suddenly insisting on investigating Shincheonji? Just like the previous Daejang-dong parliamentary investigation, they are setting unreasonable conditions and pretending to negotiate, only to let the bill fall through."
He added, "If, as the year ends and the new year begins, we still fail to reach an agreement at the plenary session on January 8 next year, there will be no further plenary sessions scheduled, and the bill will drift indefinitely and eventually be scrapped. If we cannot reach an agreement on the 30th of this month, I believe we must take 'extraordinary measures' to ensure the special prosecutor bill is passed."
Within the conservative opposition, there is discussion of Jang possibly undertaking a joint hunger strike with Lee Junseok, leader of the Reform New Party.
Regarding the right to recommend a special prosecutor, Jang said, "If the right to recommend is given to an organization aligned with the Democratic Party and the president is left with the final choice, it would be meaningless even if 100 candidates are recommended by other institutions. If the Reform New Party and the Cho Kuk Innovation Party consult and make the recommendation, it would be a method the public could accept."
On the bill to establish a special division for insurrection cases, which passed the National Assembly plenary session last week, Jang announced plans to file a constitutional complaint and again urged the president to exercise his right to request reconsideration (veto). He said, "A special court like those seen under the Nazi regime in Germany has now passed in 21st-century Korea. No matter how it is disguised, it is clearly unconstitutional. The reason the Democratic Party is pushing this through is because they are afraid their fabricated insurrection allegations will be exposed."
Regarding the "second comprehensive special prosecutor" being pushed by the Democratic Party, he said, "This is a petty election strategy to continue the insurrection allegations through next year's local elections. The moment it passes, it will face massive public outrage and lead to the administration's self-destruction. I hope they stop at this point."
On the eve of the first anniversary of the December 29 Jeju Air passenger plane disaster, Jang said, "If a parliamentary investigation fails to fully uncover the hidden truth or if someone deliberately obstructs the investigation, we will pursue the truth to the end, even through a special prosecutor."
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