Democratic Party to Submit Party-Led Revised Special Prosecutor Bills... Jung Cheongrae Apologizes at General Assembly

The Bipartisan Agreement on the Three Major Special Prosecutor Bills Is Off the Table
Jung Cheongrae Apologizes for the Unresolved Process

The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to submit and process a revised version of the three major special prosecutor bills, led by the party itself, rather than a bipartisan agreement. Democratic Party leader Jung Cheongrae apologized to lawmakers, acknowledging that the process of gathering opinions on the three major special prosecutor bills was not smooth.

Yonhap News Agency

After the Democratic Party's general assembly held at the National Assembly in Yeouido on September 11, floor spokesperson Kim Hyunjung told reporters, "We have decided to create a revised version of the three major special prosecutor bills," and added, "For the duration and personnel of the special prosecutors, we will proceed as originally proposed by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. However, for the remaining three issues-the command authority over the military and prosecution, the authority to direct investigations when a case is transferred from the special prosecutor to the National Investigation Headquarters, and the mandatory public trial clause-we will draft and submit a revised bill." The core of the Democratic Party-led revision is to expand the investigation period, scope, and personnel for the currently ongoing three major special prosecutor investigations.

The previous day, the floor leaders of both parties had agreed to pass a softened version of the Democratic Party's amendment to the three major special prosecutor bills, which included adjustments to the duration and personnel of the special prosecutors. However, the situation changed rapidly as some Democratic Party lawmakers, including leader Jung, expressed opposition.

On the morning of September 11, leader Jung told reporters, "The agreement reached yesterday was unacceptable and differed from the leadership's intentions, so I ordered renegotiations." This led to speculation about discord between the party leadership and the floor leadership. In response, floor leader Kim Byungki called on leader Jung to "apologize publicly."

During the general assembly, leader Jung stated, "There were revisions made through the general assembly and the Supreme Council regarding the bipartisan agreement, but I apologize to party members, the public, and lawmakers for the lack of smoothness in the process. This was due to my shortcomings." However, it is reported that he did not offer a direct apology to floor leader Kim.

Meanwhile, with the breakdown of bipartisan negotiations, the government organization restructuring plan discussed with the People Power Party has also returned to square one. The previous day, the opposition parties had agreed to cooperate on a government organization act amendment to restructure the Financial Services Commission into the Financial Supervisory Commission.

Floor spokesperson Kim stated, "If there are no follow-up discussions regarding the three major special prosecutor bills, then the bipartisan agreement is nullified and the revised bill will be submitted. If that happens, everything discussed yesterday will have to be renegotiated from the beginning. If the opposition does not cooperate, the bill to establish the Financial Supervisory Commission will be put on the fast track."

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