Opposition rushes to the Blue House, raises “impeaching Lee and filing a constitutional complaint” over the Special Counsel Act on Fabricated Prosecution

[Financial News] The People Power Party is continuing its all-out campaign against the “Special Counsel Act on Fabricated Prosecution.” After an outdoor rally on the 7th, it held an on-site Supreme Council meeting in front of the Blue House, staged one-person protests by party leaders, and boycotted meetings of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The party says it is considering filing a constitutional complaint or seeking a ruling on the constitutionality of the law if President Lee Jae Myung approves the bill.
The People Power Party leadership held an on-site Supreme Council meeting in front of the Blue House in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 9th. Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok criticized the Democratic Party of Korea, saying, “It says it will pour 300 people, including prosecutors, and a budget of more than 38 billion won into a jailbreak project for prisoner Lee Jae Myung,” and “The price for abusing power entrusted by the people for his own benefit is removal from office—in other words, impeachment, and nothing else.”
Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig said, “We will consider organizing the Special Counsel Act’s unconstitutional provisions and filing a constitutional complaint, while also pursuing street protests.” He said that trying to cancel indictments by exploiting the special status of former and incumbent presidents, unlike ordinary citizens, amounted to an “unfair privilege.” He also said it was unconstitutional to investigate cases that are on trial, which he described as interference in trials and an infringement on judicial authority; to have the president directly appoint a special counsel to investigate cases involving the president; and to use the Special Counsel Act to restore investigative powers that prosecutors had lost. That day, Jeong and other People Power Party lawmakers, including policy committee chair Im Lee-ja, also took part in a series of one-person protests.
People Power Party lawmakers on the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee declared a boycott, saying they would not attend committee meetings, starting with the budget subcommittee meeting held that day. Park Hyung-soo, the committee’s opposition-party secretary, said, “We are considering future legal action, including seeking a ruling on the constitutionality of the law.” Lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun called it “a state-power-abuse-style self-exoneration bill designed to eliminate President Lee’s legal risks” and urged him to “exercise his veto power.” The People Power Party is reportedly also considering boycotting National Assembly proceedings, including budget deliberations.
The Democratic Party of Korea strongly objected to the People Power Party’s opposition to the special counsel. At a Supreme Council meeting in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, that day, floor leader Han Byung-do criticized the party, saying, “It called a president elected by the people an escapee and even spoke of a mob beating as it called for impeachment,” and “Impeachment of the president is not a political slogan to be casually trotted out to rally the party and show off its strength.” He added, “The People Power Party must retract its remarks about impeaching the president and apologize immediately,” and warned, “The Democratic Party will not stand idly by on this matter. We will use every means at our disposal to hold it strictly accountable.”
The Democratic Party leadership says the special counsel cannot withdraw indictments because the bill omits the power to do so. Meanwhile, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Eui-kyeom, the ruling party’s secretary on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said on CBS Radio, “If there has been a clear case of fabricated prosecution, an indictment can also be withdrawn,” adding, “It is difficult for the two parties to be saying already at this point whether indictments will or will not be withdrawn.”
[email protected] Lee Hae-ram Reporter