Seoul Assembly Passes Special Counsel Bill on Lee Cases

South Korea’s National Assembly has passed a special counsel bill to investigate alleged fabricated investigations and indictments under former President Yoon Suk Yeol, including cases against President Lee Jae-myung, the Seoul Economic Daily reported on Sunday (Nov 8).

The bill cleared a plenary session on Friday (Nov 6) with 167 of the 168 members present voting in favour, according to the report, which cited political sources. Lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) did not take part in the vote, while Rep Lee Joo-young of the Reform Party voted against.

What the special counsel bill covers

The special counsel will look into whether the prosecution, the National Intelligence Service and the Board of Audit and Inspection under the Yoon government fabricated cases against the then-opposition Democratic Party (DP) and other political opponents. The team can have up to 309 people and work for up to 200 days.

According to Korea JoongAng Daily, citing Yonhap, the final version covers 12 prosecution cases. Six involve Lee and date from his time as Seongnam mayor or Gyeonggi governor, including alleged corrupt development schemes and illegal remittances to North Korea. The other six mostly concern events under former President Moon Jae-in, such as the forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen and the death of a fisheries official in the West Sea.

The DP had originally included a clause allowing the special prosecutor to cancel indictments, but dropped it from the final bill after a backlash inside and outside the party, JoongAng Daily said. It will be the seventh independent counsel appointed since Lee took office.

Opposition protests and legal doubts

The PPP launched a filibuster when the bill was taken up on Thursday (Nov 5). Its floor leader, Jeong Jeom-sig, called the measure “the worst anticonstitutional coup against parliament in constitutional history”, according to JoongAng Daily. The party has vowed to take its protest outside the National Assembly.

Critics quoted by the Seoul Economic Daily raised concerns that most cases on the list involve Lee, who will make the final appointment. Korea University law professor Cha Jin-a said the probe goes against the original purpose of the special counsel system. Several former senior prosecutors, now lawyers, also questioned investigating cases where guilty verdicts had already been delivered or trials were still under way.

How the special prosecutor will be appointed

Under the law, the National Assembly speaker must ask the president in writing to appoint a special prosecutor within two days of the law taking effect. The president must then seek nominations from parliamentary groups and appoint one of the candidates put forward. JoongAng Daily said Lee would choose from candidates recommended by the DP, the PPP and the minor Rebuilding Korea Party. The Seoul Economic Daily said the probe was expected to launch within days.

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