The motion that passed in a 210-63 vote aims to appoint a special counsel by activating the Act on the Appointment of an Independent Prosecutor. - Bloomberg
SEOUL: The National Assembly on Tuesday (Dec 10) passed one of two special counsel investigation proposals floated by the main opposition mandating a probe into insurrection charges against President Yoon Suk-yeol.
The motion that passed in a 210-63 vote aims to appoint a special counsel by activating the Act on the Appointment of an Independent Prosecutor, who would investigate whether Yoon committed insurrection and abuse of power by issuing his short-lived martial law decree on Dec 3.
Instead of announcing a single, unified stance for Dec 10’s vote on the special counsel investigation, the ruling People Power Party announced ahead of the plenary meeting, that its 108 lawmakers would have the “freedom” to vote either in favour of or against the motion.
The proposal was approved by the Assembly’s 18-member Legislation and Judiciary committee the previous day, with the majority or 11 opposition lawmakers on the committee voting to advance the motion to the plenary meeting.
All seven ruling party lawmakers on the committee boycotted the vote. It was introduced by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Dec 6.
Besides Yoon, the subjects of the special counsel investigation include: former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun; Army Chief of Staff General Park An-su, who was named the martial law commander; Prime Minister Han Duck-soo; Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung; and People Power Party Representative Choo Kyung-ho, who recently stepped down from his position as the floor leader of the ruling party.
They were accused of either directly committing insurrection or colluding in the act of insurrection.
A legal expert told The Korea Herald that as Yoon holds the power to confirm and appoint the special counsel, among the two candidates proposed by a seven-member committee of legal experts, he currently holds the ball in his court.
The Act on the Appointment of an Independent Prosecutor states that the president must appoint the special counsel within three days after the committee picks the two candidates, but it does not specify a punishment for the president if he fails to meet the deadline.
But abusing this loophole could ultimately become a liability for Yoon, the expert explained.
“Yoon could ultimately refuse to appoint the special counsel, but this would be added to the grounds for Yoon’s impeachment,” professor at Konkuk University Law School Han Sang-hie said via phone.
If the motion is finalised, then the ongoing separate investigations by the prosecution, police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials would temporarily halt to support the special counsel probe, according to Han.
“It would become a system in which the law enforcement agencies would provide the evidence they have collected to the special counsel,” Han said.
The Democratic Party on Dec 9 introduced a separate special counsel investigation proposal, which is initiated by the Assembly passing a specific Bill for the purpose, which the main opposition plans to put to a vote during an extraordinary plenary meeting scheduled for Dec 14.
The party plans to put it to a vote alongside the opposition coalition’s second impeachment motion against Yoon.
People Power Party chair Han Dong-hoon, who has been gearing up to pursue a plan that would bring about “an orderly resignation” of Yoon, proposed on Dec 10 to introduce the ruling bloc’s own special counsel investigation Bill, to other ruling party lawmakers.
People Power Party Representative Kim Tae-ho told reporters that Han made such a proposal during a closed-door intra-party meeting around noon.
“Apparently, Han feels that (the ruling party) has no grounds to go against any type of investigations related to insurrection (charges against Yoon) and the martial law decree and that we must rather actively pursue it,” Kim said.
The Assembly was also expected to pass a Bill to downsize next year’s government budget during Dec 10’s plenary session.
The Bill aims to slash next year’s budget to 677.4 trillion won (S$635 billion), which is 4.1 trillion won less than the budget proposed by the government. Cabinet members have pointed out that the Democratic Party’s downsized budget would present significant hurdles to the Yoon administration’s initiatives.
Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Chan-dae said, ahead of the vote, that “if there are areas tied to people’s livelihoods and the economic recovery that require additional allocation of the budget”, it will be added to the extra budget proposals. - The Korea Herald/ANN
