野 "Itaewon Special Act, Must Be Passed... If Negotiations Fail, Will Amend Independently"

Hong Ik-pyo "Promise to the People... Will Pass the Law Today"
Considering Speaker's Proposal for Self-Amendment if Ruling and Opposition Parties Fail to Agree

The Democratic Party reaffirmed its plan to forcibly pass the 'Itaewon Disaster' special law at the plenary session scheduled for the afternoon of the 9th.

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, stated at the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, "We have already promised to pass the Itaewon Disaster special law today," and added, "To keep our promise to the people, we will definitely pass the special law today."

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 9th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He pointed out, "We made various efforts to reach a bipartisan agreement based on the mediation proposal by Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, but no agreement has been reached yet," and said, "Although Yoon Jae-ok, the floor leader of the People Power Party, made many efforts, it is very regrettable that the Presidential Office and related ministries opposed the establishment of a special investigation committee for fact-finding and continuously proposed amendments to nullify it."

He continued, "The Democratic Party made several concessions and negotiations in the Speaker's mediation proposal, but due to unreasonable demands that undermine the purpose and intent of the law, no agreement was reached," and added, "We will do our best to reach an agreement until just before the plenary session, but the situation is not favorable."

The 'mediation proposal' submitted to Speaker Kim Jin-pyo to pass the Itaewon special law includes establishing a special investigation committee for fact-finding but removes the National Assembly's right to request the appointment of a special prosecutor. Also, the enforcement of the law is postponed until after the general election in April. While both ruling and opposition parties agreed on establishing the special investigation committee itself, they have not narrowed their differences on details such as the composition ratio and operational direction of the committee.

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 9th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Originally, the Democratic Party planned to pass the original bill unilaterally if no agreement was reached, but they somewhat changed their stance and announced a plan to pass a revised bill considering the 'Speaker's mediation proposal.' After the party strategy meeting, Im Oh-kyung, the party's floor spokesperson, told reporters, "We will try to reach an agreement (before the plenary session)," and added, "If no agreement is reached until the last moment, our party will submit a Democratic Party bill considering the Speaker's revised proposal."

If the Democratic Party unilaterally passes its own revised bill due to the lack of bipartisan agreement, the 'special prosecutor request clause' may be revived. When asked whether the special prosecutor request clause would be excluded from the Democratic Party bill considering the Speaker's revised proposal, Spokesperson Im replied, "There was progress toward excluding it when the ruling and opposition parties were negotiating, but since the discussions are not proceeding smoothly, we will exclude everything and submit a Democratic Party bill considering the Speaker's revised proposal."

Meanwhile, the People Power Party attempted to push for a re-vote on the so-called 'double special prosecutor law,' which President Yoon Seok-yeol vetoed, at the plenary session that day, but it was blocked due to opposition from the Democratic Party.

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