Cho Seung-rae, secretary-general of the Democratic Party, said Monday the party needs further discussion on when to move a bill to launch a special prosecutor probe into alleged “fabricated prosecutions,” citing differing views within the party ahead of the June 3 local elections.
It was the party’s first official position after President Lee Jae-myung said the timing and procedure should be left to the ruling party.
Speaking at a news briefing at the National Assembly, Cho said the party had introduced a special prosecutor bill based on findings confirmed through a National Assembly special committee’s fact-finding probe into the alleged fabricated prosecutions.
Earlier Monday, Cho told MBC radio’s “Kim Jong-bae’s Focus” that passage before the local elections was possible. He later said he had also stressed the need to weigh the bill itself and its potential impact on the election.
On the special prosecutor issue, Lee’s position was delivered through Hong Ik-pyo, the presidential senior secretary for political affairs, who said “a national consensus has formed.” Hong said Lee called it essential to uncover the truth through a special prosecutor and restore judicial justice, while asking the Democratic Party to decide the specific timing and procedures after gathering public opinion and deliberating.
The Democratic Party wrapped up the activities of its National Assembly special committee on the alleged fabricated prosecutions on April 30 and immediately introduced the “fabricated prosecution special prosecutor bill.” The bill would allow a special prosecutor to investigate the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case and the Daejang-dong and Wirye new-town development corruption cases, among others.
The bill also includes a provision for the special prosecutor to handle the maintenance of prosecutions for cases transferred to it, prompting controversy over whether it effectively grants the special prosecutor authority to drop indictments.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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