Bae Jin-gyo "Regret over Park Beom-gye's refusal to meet... Urges plenary session within the year for double special prosecution"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Bae Jin-kyo, floor leader of the Justice Party, expressed regret over the failure to arrange a meeting with Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye to urge the introduction of a permanent special prosecutor.

On the afternoon of the same day, Floor Leader Bae issued a message at the Rotunda Hall of the National Assembly main building titled "Justice Party and People’s Party Floor Leaders Begin Sit-in to Urge Dual Special Prosecutors," stating, "I cannot help but strongly express regret over Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye’s refusal to meet despite the request," and criticized, "If the Ministry of Justice continues to merely observe this matter, it would be dereliction of duty."

Floor Leader Bae said, "This morning, together with People’s Party Floor Leader Kwon Eun-hee, we visited the Ministry of Justice to urge the appointment of a permanent special prosecutor regarding the Daejang-dong preferential corruption allegations and the prosecution’s alleged involvement in election-related complaints." He explained, "According to the Special Prosecutor Appointment Act, besides the special prosecutor appointed by the National Assembly’s resolution, the Minister of Justice can introduce a special prosecutor after consulting the Prosecutor General if the minister judges that a case requires investigation by a special prosecutor due to conflicts of interest or fairness concerns. Since this case directly involves the presidential candidates of the two major establishment parties, there is no conflict of interest, and Minister Park has the responsibility to actively step forward for a fair special prosecutor investigation."

Floor Leader Bae urged Minister Park, saying, "I hope you will take responsibility and express your position on the dual special prosecutors."

He emphasized, "There is no more time to delay the dual special prosecutors," adding, "It must be conducted within this year so that at least some truth can be revealed by February 12, before the registration of candidates for the 20th presidential election." He also stated, "We must hold a plenary session within December to pass the Special Prosecutor Act. We plan to meet with National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok soon and urge the convening of a plenary session within this year to handle the dual special prosecutors."

Meanwhile, Minister Park expressed a negative stance on the introduction of a permanent special prosecutor. On the 26th, appearing on KBS’s "Sunday Diagnosis Live," Minister Park said, "With about 70 days left until the presidential election, there is a question of whether it is appropriate to request a permanent special prosecutor while largely denying the investigation results conducted under the supervision and command of the Ministry of Justice."

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