"'Daejang-dong 5 Billion Club' Special Prosecutor Act Passed in National Assembly Plenary Session (Update)"

On the 28th, the National Assembly held a plenary session and passed the Special Prosecutor Appointment Act for the investigation of the Hwacheon Daeyu '50 Billion Club' bribery scandal, also known as the Daejang-dong 50 Billion Club Special Act.

The Daejang-dong 50 Billion Club Special Act was passed in the plenary session with all 181 members present voting in favor, while members of the People Power Party walked out.

The special prosecutor law passed this time was one of the bills fast-tracked in April along with the special prosecutor investigation into Kim Geon-hee’s alleged stock manipulation of Deutsche Motors. After the statutory deliberation period for the plenary session elapsed, the bill was automatically submitted.

The bill processed in the plenary session is an amendment to the existing special prosecutor law, increasing the number of dispatched prosecutors from 10 to 20, and clarifying the bill’s proposers as the Justice Party, which originally proposed the special prosecutor law. Unusually, the bill stripped the negotiation groups?the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party?of their recommendation rights.

On the 28th, the National Assembly plenary session passed the bill concerning the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations of stock manipulation involving Kim Geon-hee, the president's spouse, in Deutsche Motors. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Before the plenary session vote, heated debates took place between ruling and opposition party lawmakers regarding the special prosecutor law.

Jeong Jeom-sik, a People Power Party lawmaker, opposed the bill, stating, "Due to the specific nature of the Daejang-dong case and the 50 Billion Club case, ongoing investigations and prosecutions will face serious obstacles and disruptions, and it is obvious that investigations and trials against Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader, will be delayed."

Warnings were also raised that if the president exercises the right to request reconsideration (veto) of the special prosecutor law, it would face public backlash. Kang Seong-hee, a Progressive Party lawmaker, warned, "If President Yoon Seok-yeol defies the will of the people and attempts to exercise the veto again, the people will no longer tolerate it and will rise up to overthrow the regime," adding, "The exploding anger of the people will surge toward the Yoon Seok-yeol administration as the spring of impeachment in the Year of the Rabbit."

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