野, Yeo Repeatedly Requests Negotiations on Special Investigation Law for Insurrection... People Power Party to Hold Afternoon Meeting for Resolution

As the arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol is executed, political attention is focused on whether the Special Investigation Act on the Insurrection will pass. On the 16th, the Democratic Party of Korea expressed its intention to negotiate with the People Power Party. The People Power Party plans to finalize its stance through an emergency party meeting in the afternoon.

On the 10th, at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly, Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae, ruling party secretary Yoo Sang-beom, and opposition party secretary Park Beom-gye are discussing the bill concerning the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the facts of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's acts of rebellion and foreign exchange offenses. Photo by Yonhap News

Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at a policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly that day, "The Democratic Party is ready to negotiate even overnight." Park added, "There are allegations that former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min ordered power and water cuts to MBC and Hankyoreh during the December 3 insurrection incident," and said, "The longer time passes, the more evidence is destroyed and testimonies are contaminated, so the special investigation must be launched as soon as possible."

For now, the Democratic Party intends to continue negotiations with the People Power Party both officially and unofficially. The Democratic Party, along with other opposition parties, jointly proposed the Special Investigation Act on the Insurrection, which includes provisions for third-party recommendations for the special investigator and a reduction in the scale of the special investigation. However, the bill also contains provisions to investigate foreign exchange inducement crimes, which the Democratic Party has indicated could be adjusted through negotiations with the ruling party. The Democratic Party’s willingness to negotiate stems from the concern that if bipartisan agreement is not reached, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Planning and Finance Choi Sang-mok, acting as the presidential authority, could exercise the right to request reconsideration (veto power).

The key issue is whether the People Power Party’s stance will change after President Yoon’s arrest. Initially, the People Power Party held a party meeting and delegated the decision on whether to propose the special investigation bill to the leadership, which declared its intention to propose its own bill. Although the specific bill was disclosed, it has not yet been formally proposed.

Regarding this, Shin Dong-wook, the chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, said after the emergency committee meeting, "Since the president was arrested and is under investigation yesterday, this (proposing the special investigation bill) could be misunderstood as being connected." He added, "The party has opinions that a bill is necessary to prevent defections, but we plan to hear opinions at the party meeting." Shin said, "If we do not propose it, the Democratic Party has already stated that they will process their own special investigation bill, so I think it is difficult to delay the timing." This indicates that the party still agrees on the necessity of proposing its own bill.

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