New Independent Counsel Bill Passes through National Assembly

At a plenary session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) almost singly-handedly passed a revision bill on the special counsel for another full-scale investigation into the secret transfer to the North.

Only GNP lawmakers, members from United Liberal Democrats and independent lawmakers participated in the voting, while ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) members stepped out of the assembly hall. Of the 151 attending lawmakers, only three were against it, with six casting blank ballots.

The new independent counsel bill, which has passed through the Assembly, stated that the scope of investigation includes a probe into the secret cash transfer to Pyongyang before the 2000 inter-Korean summit, the possibility of some of the money being channeled to the North`s nuclear weapons program, and bribery cases involving former presidential chief of staff Park Ji-won. The time given for investigation is an initial 90 days and it can be extended by an additional 30 days only with the independent counsel`s report to the president, that is, without the president`s approval.

However, the president will not change his previous position to veto the bill, senior secretary for civil affairs Moon Jae-in said.

"As the president said before, it is not possible to accept including other items in the new investigation, except the bribery case involving Park Ji-won," Mr. Moon said. "Whether to veto or not will finally be decided at a cabinet meeting."

Earlier that day, the National Assembly approved a revision of the government-sponsored supplementary budget plan, revising the amount to 4.47 trillion won from the original 4.17 trillion won. Therefore, the country’s total budget will increase to 115.1 trillion won.

The National Assembly also voted on plans to cut the special excise tax on automobiles with an engine displacement of more than 2000cc to 10% and to expand earned income tax credits for wage earners who earn less than 15 million won a year by 5 percentage points.

Yeon-Wook Jung Jeong-Hun Kim jyw11@donga.com jnghn@donga.com