Cho Seung-rae, secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Korea, said the party needs further discussion on when to move a bill to appoint a special counsel to investigate alleged “fabricated indictments,” taking a cautious line ahead of the June 3 local elections.
His remarks on May 4 marked the party’s first official position after President Lee Jae-myung said he would leave the timing and procedure to the party.
At a news briefing at the National Assembly, Cho said the party had introduced the special counsel bill based on findings confirmed through a National Assembly special committee’s fact-finding probe into the alleged fabricated indictments.
Earlier that morning, Cho had told MBC Radio’s “Kim Jong-bae’s Focus” that passage before the local elections was possible. He later said he also stressed on the program that the party should weigh the bill itself and its potential impact on the election.
Separately, the presidential office’s senior secretary for political affairs, Hong Ik-pyo, delivered Lee’s position, saying “a national consensus has formed” on the special counsel issue. Hong said Lee called it a must to uncover the truth and restore judicial justice through a special counsel, but asked the ruling Democratic Party to decide the specific timing and procedures after gathering public opinion and deliberating.
The Democratic Party last month wrapped up the special committee’s activities on April 30 and immediately introduced the “fabricated indictment special counsel bill.” The bill would allow a special counsel to investigate the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case and the Daejang-dong and Wirye new town development corruption cases.
The bill also includes a provision for the special counsel to handle the maintenance of prosecutions in cases transferred to it, prompting controversy over whether it effectively grants the special counsel authority to drop indictments.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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