Lame Opposition Amid Concerns Over Lee Jae-myung's Judicial Risks

4 National Issues (Yangpyeong, Broadcasting, Jamboree, Heavy Rain) Lose Momentum
Yellow Envelope Act and Broadcasting Act Also Deferred to Regular Session

Amid the judicial risk controversy surrounding Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, the party's demand for four parliamentary investigations is also wavering.

Kim Han-gyu, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, told reporters after a floor strategy meeting on the 22nd, "Recently, standing committees have not been functioning properly," adding, "The Democratic Party has no choice but to demand various measures such as parliamentary investigations to uncover the truth in this situation. If the ruling party at least held standing committee meetings to make efforts to clarify current issues, there would be grounds to refuse parliamentary investigations, but such efforts are not visible." Kim further explained, "Because of this, the Democratic Party has no choice but to continue demanding parliamentary investigations."

Kim's remarks can be seen in principle as a call for the National Assembly to hold standing committee meetings to receive reports on contentious issues and have time for questions. However, mentioning "grounds to refuse parliamentary investigations" and "having no choice but to continue demanding parliamentary investigations" suggests that if the standing committees functioned properly, the demand for parliamentary investigations could be eased.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 21st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Earlier, the Democratic Party had adopted a party stance to push for a special prosecutor investigation into the death of Marine Corps Corporal Chae Soo-geun, along with parliamentary investigations into four cases: ▲allegations of preferential treatment in changing the terminus of the Seoul-Yangpyeong highway involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee's family ▲the dismissal resolution of the KBS chairman by the Korea Communications Commission ▲the Saemangeum Jamboree mishandling incident ▲and the Osong underground passage disaster during heavy rains, collectively known as the '1 Special Prosecutor 4 Parliamentary Investigations.'

Since the '1 Special Prosecutor 4 Parliamentary Investigations' policy was proposed, concerns have been raised both inside and outside the party. Criticism ranges from doubts about whether even one parliamentary investigation can be successfully carried out to skepticism about whether they can participate in the upcoming audit sessions. This atmosphere was also reflected in the remarks of Song Ki-heon, the Democratic Party's deputy floor leader, regarding the agreement on the legislative schedule the day before. In response to a question about voices within the party urging to expedite the audit in September, Song said, "To conduct the audit, the plenary session must decide on witnesses and schedules," adding, "Looking at the schedule, from the 11th to the 15th of next month, each standing committee will hold plenary meetings to plan the audit. Physically, a September audit will be difficult." This indicates that the schedule is already tight just preparing for the audit.

The situation is somewhat different regarding the special prosecutor. Kim Byung-joo, the Democratic Party's secretary of the National Defense Committee, said on KBS Radio's Choi Kyung-young's 'Strong Current Affairs' program, "There are limits to what can be revealed in the standing committee, and since the police investigation only covers the corporal's case, it cannot address issues like insubordination, so it must go to a special prosecutor."

Besides parliamentary investigations, the Democratic Party has also shown a defensive stance in bill processing. The 'Yellow Envelope Act' (amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union Act) and the 'Broadcasting Three Acts' (amendments to the Broadcasting Act, Broadcasting Culture Promotion Act, and Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act) have seen a softening of the push for forced passage. Initially, the Democratic Party planned to pass these bills during the August extraordinary session, but after negotiations with National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and the People Power Party's floor leadership, they agreed to postpone to the regular session. The Democratic Party has announced plans to pass them in September. However, the People Power Party has indicated it will respond with unlimited debate and other tactics. If unlimited debate occurs during the 100-day regular session, it will inevitably disrupt the entire schedule. Thus, passing the Yellow Envelope Act in September is also a challenging situation.

Despite taking a defensive stance on various issues, the Democratic Party remains proactive regarding the August extraordinary session schedule. They propose setting a kind of recess in preparation for the issuance of an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung. Kim Han-gyu said, "We will continue consultations until the plenary session on the 24th," adding, "If consultations fail, a motion to decide the session will be raised, and during that resolution process, we will strive to have the session we desire reflected."

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