A bill to amend the special counsel act, which includes an additional extension of the investigation period and an increase in personnel for the three special counsels (insurrection, Kim Keon-hee, and the fallen Marine), passed the National Assembly's plenary session.
The National Assembly held a plenary session on the 11th and passed the amendment to the three special counsel act with 168 votes in favor out of 168 present.
The Democratic Party of Korea pushed an amendment to the special counsel act that would allow a 30-day additional extension of the three special counsels' investigation period. It also sought to increase the number of prosecutors dispatched to the special counsel teams. While the opposition party opposed an additional extension of the investigation period and the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties agreed the day before not to extend it further, the plan fell through as there was pushback within the ruling party. In the end, the amendment, which includes an additional extension of the investigation period and an increase in prosecutors dispatched to the special counsel teams, passed the plenary session that day.
The three special counsel act that passed the plenary session that day was partially revised from the version approved by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. Kim Hyun-jung, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, said, "As for the special counsel's term and staffing, we kept the draft as sent up by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee; for the rest, we drafted revisions on issues including command authority over the military prosecution, whether the special counsel can direct investigations by the National Office of Investigation, and provisions related to disclosure obligations."
Democratic Party lawmaker Moon Jin-seok said, "The revised bill expands the investigation period and personnel while minimizing points of contention."