Clear Up All Suspicion Over Cash Transfer Through Special Counsel Investigation

The National Assembly on July 11 was expected to act on a limited-version of a special counsel bill calling for an investigation into 15 billon won worth of political funds offered by the Hyundai group. However, it failed to pass the bill because main opposition Grand National Party presented a new bill making a revision to the limited special counsel bill and the ruling Millennium Democratic Party strongly opposed the bill.

The new special counsel bill presented by the GNP called for a special counsel investigation into the 15 billion won offered by the business group. It also demanded an investigation including a 500 million dollar remittance to North Korea and relations between the secret money transfer to the North and its high-explosive tests, a crucial step for developing nuclear weapons.

The GNP tried to put up a floor vote on the revised special counsel bill at the parliamentary plenary session by submitting a motion on revised proceedings after the parliamentary interpellation session held on Friday. However, the National Assembly session was recessed after Parliament Chairman Park Kwan-young demanded a negotiation between floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties.

However, GNP floor leader Hon Sa-duck reaffirmed his position to act on the new special counsel bill within that day and ruling MDP discussed how to deal with the GNP-led bill in an emergency meeting.

In that morning, the GNP convened its general meeting presided over by its floor leader Hong Sa-duck and decided to make full-scale revision to the limited special counsel bill passed by the parliamentary judiciary committee on July 8.

GNP leader Choi Byung-yul explained why GNP decided to make a revision to the limited bill. “Even the Kim government knew that the North conducted high-explosive tests related to its nuclear weapons development in April 1998, thus providing the communist regime with a great deal of money. Our mission is to go to the bottom of the case to clear up public suspicions over it.”

Yeon-Wook Jung jyw11@donga.com