Sewol Ferry Special Investigation Committee Extended by 1.5 Years, 'Sachamwi' Law Passes Political Affairs Committee Agenda Coordination Committee

[Asia Economy reporters Jeon Jinyoung and Im Chunhan] The Special Act on the Investigation of Social Disasters (Social Disaster Investigation Committee Act), which extends the activities of the Special Investigation Committee on the Sewol Ferry Disaster and the Humidifier Disinfectant Incident, passed the agenda adjustment committee of the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee on the 8th.

The Democratic Party of Korea passed an amendment on the same day to maintain the size of the Social Disaster Investigation Committee (SaChamwi) at the existing 120 members and set the activity period to 1 year and 6 months. The original bill proposed by Representative Park Jumin included extending the activity period to 2 years, but this was revised.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Instead of introducing the special judicial police officer (Teuksa-gyeong) system included in the original bill, the Democratic Party decided to grant SaChamwi the authority to request search and seizure warrants for individuals or institutions. SaChamwi will also have the authority to review documents submitted through search and seizure.

Furthermore, SaChamwi will be required to report to the National Assembly every six months regarding its operations and investigations, sharing progress with the Assembly. A new provision will allow the Assembly to support or request improvements where necessary. The amendment also includes a provision to temporarily suspend the statute of limitations during SaChamwi's activity period.

Kim Byungwook, the ruling party's secretary of the Judiciary Committee, told reporters during a recess of the agenda adjustment committee, “The Democratic Party proposed an amendment to the bill submitted by Representative Park, and Representative Bae Jin-gyo of the Justice Party, who opposed parts of the bill in the morning, also agreed to the amendment.” Representative Bae had previously opposed the bill, insisting that SaChamwi should be granted special judicial police investigation authority, but this was not reflected in the amendment.

The bill is expected to be processed at the plenary session on the 9th after passing the full Judiciary Committee meeting and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's approval.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.