South Korea passes three special prosecutor bills

The National Assembly on Thursday passed three major special prosecutor bills: the Insurrection Special Prosecutor Act, the Kim Keon Hee Special Prosecutor Act, and the Corporal Chae Special Prosecutor Act. The vote was led by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and marks the party's first major legislative move following President Lee Jae-myung’s inauguration and his pledge to pursue accountability for the alleged December 3 insurrection.

During the afternoon plenary session, lawmakers also voted on a bill to strengthen discipline within the prosecution. Each special prosecutor bill passed with 194 votes in favor, three against, and one abstention out of 198 lawmakers present. The People Power Party, which opposed the bills as party policy, staged a walkout and did not participate in the vote.

The Insurrection Special Prosecutor Act seeks to investigate 11 alleged crimes, including the former Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s declaration of emergency martial law on December 3 and accusations of inducing foreign aggression. A revised version of the bill expands the team from four assistant prosecutors and up to 40 dispatched prosecutors to six assistants and up to 60. The Democratic Party of Korea and the Rebuilding Korea Party, which holds the most seats among non-aligned parties, will each recommend one candidate for special prosecutor.

The Kim Keon Hee Special Prosecutor Act targets allegations that the former first lady manipulated stock prices involving Deutsch Motors and Sambu Engineering, accepted luxury items, and improperly influenced government personnel decisions. The Corporal Chae Special Prosecutor Act is aimed at investigating allegations of a cover-up and political interference in the probe into a Marine’s death.

The Kim and Chae investigations will be supported by up to 40 and 20 dispatched prosecutors, respectively. Combined with the insurrection probe, the special investigations may involve as many as 120 prosecutors, a scale comparable to that of a regional prosecutors’ office.

The Democratic Party attempted several times during former President Yoon’s term to pass the bills, but each effort was blocked by presidential vetoes. The Kim and Chae bills were each vetoed after passing four and three times, respectively. The insurrection bill was vetoed twice. President Lee is expected to promptly sign all three into law once they are delivered to him.

The People Power Party has voiced concern over provisions in the insurrection and Kim Keon Hee bills that allow investigations to extend to related cases discovered during the probes. Party officials said this could lead to politically motivated investigations targeting their lawmakers.


Oh-Hyuk Kwon hyuk@donga.com