Opposition takes to the streets ... National Assembly caught up in controversy over special counsel bill on fabricated prosecutions

[Financial News] The political climate rapidly chilled after the Special Counsel Act on Fabricated Prosecution passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 6th. After holding a large outdoor rally in central Seoul, the People Power Party announced plans for an all-out campaign, including on-site Supreme Council meetings and lawmakers’ general meetings in front of the Blue House, as well as one-person protests. It is also considering boycotting deliberations on the 2027 government budget proposal and filibusters on contentious bills—legal obstruction of legislative proceedings through unlimited debate—leaving the National Assembly on the verge of being sucked into a “black hole.”
According to the opposition on the 8th, the People Power Party will hold on-site Supreme Council meetings and lawmakers’ general meetings in front of the Blue House on consecutive days, the 9th and 10th. A series of one-person protests led by floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig is also planned. The party is continuing its campaign to win public opinion after holding a large outdoor rally near Gyeongbokgung Station in Seoul on the 7th.
After the special counsel bill passed, the People Power Party has ratcheted up its attacks on President Lee Jae Myung and the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) to the maximum. Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok said, “The Special Prosecutor Act for Dismissal of Prosecutions is a law solely for Lee Jae Myung,” and even raised the possibility of impeaching the president. Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig said the special counsel is investigating cases related to President Lee, and denounced the fact that President Lee, a party to those cases, appointed the special counsel, calling the appointment an infringement on the judiciary and an insurrection.
The People Power Party has declared that it “will use every means available” to block the special counsel, and the parliamentary situation is expected to grow more fraught as budget deliberations continue. It warned that it would launch a filibuster if the DPK holds a plenary session on the 12th and passes the Act on Persons of Merit for Democracy. Passage of the three bills to boost housing supply, pursued by the government and ruling party—the Urban Improvement Act, the Special Act on the Promotion of Urban Renewal, and the Yongsan Park Special Act—is also highly likely to be disrupted.
A boycott of budget deliberations has reportedly been discussed within the party, but its leadership says nothing has been decided. If a boycott goes ahead or deliberations on the budget are delayed, the government could miss the statutory deadline of December 2 for passing the budget in a plenary session. The government budget proposal, long a habitual latecomer, met the deadline last year by passing the plenary session on December 2, but is once again at risk of being passed late this year.
As the People Power Party launched an all-out campaign against the special counsel, the DPK moved to vigorously defend the bill, saying it was intended to get to the bottom of abuses of prosecutorial power. DPK spokesperson Cho Gye-won held a press conference that day and said, “This is a law to investigate allegations that the prosecution fabricated investigations and indictments under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.” The spokesperson added, “Ignoring the special counsel’s investigative purpose and scope, they are dragging the president into this and making the absurd claim that it is an ‘Lee Jae Myung jailbreak law.’”
The DPK criticized the People Power Party’s outdoor rally as “a shield rally aimed at blocking the search for the truth about politically motivated prosecutors’ investigations and indictments, and an attempt to hamstring the administration while abandoning people’s livelihoods.” In response to Jang’s mention of impeachment, it strongly defended President Lee, calling him “a president respected by people around the world.” On the 7th, Seo Young-kyo, Chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said President Lee was not a target of investigation, explaining, “The targets are the prosecution under Yoon Suk Yeol, the National Intelligence Service and the Board of Audit and Inspection—the ones who fabricated and concealed things and produced false official documents in the course of investigations, audits and other processes.” Seo added, “Properly punishing criminals in state institutions, including those who fabricated and concealed evidence, is what revives people’s livelihoods and sets justice right.”
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