Ruling and Opposition Floor Leaders Discuss Unification Church and Nomination Bribery Special Prosecutors but Make No Progress

2+2 Floor Leaders' Meeting Held at National Assembly on January 19
Ruling Party: "Shincheonji Must Be Included in Unification Church Probe"
Opposition: "Shincheonji Should Be Investigated by a Separate Special Prosecutor"

The floor leadership of both the ruling and opposition parties met to discuss whether to include the Shincheonji special prosecutor investigation in the Unification Church special prosecutor probe, but they were unable to narrow their differences. The Democratic Party stated that it cannot accept the special prosecutor investigation into the alleged nomination bribery, which the People Power Party is demanding.

Yonhap News Agency

On January 19, at the National Assembly Operations Committee Chairman's Office in Yeouido, Han Byungdo, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party, and Chun Junho, Senior Deputy Floor Leader for Operations, met with Song Eonseok, Floor Leader of the People Power Party, and Yoo Sangbeom, Senior Deputy Floor Leader for Operations, to discuss the Unification Church special prosecutor issue.

Immediately after the meeting, Floor Leader Song told reporters, "What our party's leader, Jang Donghyuk, is risking his life to achieve is to secure a dual special prosecutor investigation (into the Democratic Party nomination bribery allegations and the Unification Church Gate). However, although I met with Floor Leader Han today, it appears that the Democratic Party is unwilling to accept this."

He continued, "When the People Power Party initially called for a Unification Church special prosecutor, the other side suddenly brought up Shincheonji and tried to dilute the issue by suggesting a joint Unification Church-Shincheonji special prosecutor investigation. Therefore, we proposed, if necessary, to establish two separate special prosecutor investigations: one for the Unification Church and one for Shincheonji. This is because conducting both investigations together could raise concerns about biased investigations led by the People Power Party."

Floor Leader Song added, "We proposed that each special prosecutor independently take responsibility for its own agenda and uncover the truth, but the Democratic Party also found this difficult to accept. We agreed to gather more opinions within our parties and revisit the discussion."

When asked by reporters about the Democratic Party's stance on the nomination bribery special prosecutor, Floor Leader Song replied, "The Democratic Party is saying that they do not intend to accept it at this time, citing the fact that the President has already instructed the Joint Investigation Team to investigate. However, as City Council Member Kim Kyung has been summoned three times and his statements have been released, this neglects the basics of an investigation. I suspect this investigation is not about uncovering the truth but about buying time to cover up the facts and coordinate testimonies."

Floor Leader Han, speaking to reporters, said, "The issue with the special prosecutor proposed by the People Power Party is, first, their suggestion to include Min Junggi as a special prosecutor in the Unification Church probe. This is politically motivated. That is why we, the Democratic Party, are insisting that the Unification Church and Shincheonji matters be handled together."

He continued, responding to a question about whether there is room for negotiation if Min Junggi is excluded from the investigation, "If Min Junggi is excluded and a simultaneous special prosecutor investigation into both the Unification Church and Shincheonji is conducted, thereby firmly upholding the principle of separation of church and state and preventing religious groups from interfering in the nomination process ever again, then we are open to considering it."