Jeon Yong-gi, a supreme council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said the National Assembly should pass a special counsel bill investigating whether charges against President Lee Jae-myung were fabricated at a plenary session on Oct. 1. The remarks came a day after a party floor spokesperson said the matter would be postponed until after the October parliamentary audit of government agencies, marking the first open dissent from that plan.
"A conclusion has not been reached yet," Jeon said on the 30th on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus," adding, "I believe the special counsel bill on fabricated prosecution should be passed immediately." He explained that "if we do not clearly hold accountable the forces that toyed with state power and engaged in fabrication, there is a possibility that such things will be repeated again."
After a general meeting of its lawmakers the previous day, the Democratic Party said it would push discussion of the special counsel bill to the October parliamentary audit and focus on livelihood issues. Jeon Eun-su, the party's floor spokesperson, said at the time, "We agreed on the need for the special counsel bill on fabricated prosecution, but on the timing, we decided to gather opinions within the party and set it after the October parliamentary audit." She added, "The goal of this audit is going all-in on livelihood issues, and this is meant to show that earnestly."
Jeon, the supreme council member, argued that "as I understood it, they did not clearly say they would not put it on the agenda." He said the situation could change, since agenda items are coordinated up until the day of the plenary session. "A conclusion on whether to table the special counsel bill on fabricated prosecution or to proceed only with livelihood bills will probably come around tomorrow morning, Oct. 1," he said.
He also made clear that the bill would not grant the power to withdraw indictments. "Haven't we removed everything related to the controversy over withdrawing indictments that they are talking about?" Jeon said, referring to the People Power Party. "In that case, for the normalization of the country, and because it is only right to set things straight if state power was used for unreasonable fabrication, I believe the People Power Party will also join in."
