Rifts within the ruling camp surfaced over the scrapping of the revised bill for the three special counsel laws.
Kim Byung-gi, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, met with reporters at the National Assembly on the 11th and said, "Tell Jeong Cheong-rae (the leader) to issue a public apology."
Kim, the floor leader, met the previous day with Song Eon-seok, the People Power Party's floor leader, and agreed to accept the opposition's demands on the revised special counsel bill. The agreement, made public late that night, said the Democratic Party would not extend the investigation period for the three special counsel laws and would minimize any increase in investigative personnel to around 10. In return, the People Power Party would cooperate with the government reorganization pushed by the government and the Democratic Party.
However, once the terms of the agreement became known, there was a strong backlash led by hard-liners within the Democratic Party. In the end, that morning the Democratic Party conveyed to the People Power Party that it would be difficult to carry out the agreement.
In the process, friction surfaced between Democratic Party leader Jeong Cheong-rae and floor leader Kim Byung-gi. Jeong said that morning, "The floor leader worked very hard, but the (ruling and opposition) revised plan was quite different from the leadership's intent, so I was taken aback and immediately ordered renegotiations."
Kim, the floor leader, then wrote on Facebook, "The negotiations to revise the three special counsel laws have collapsed. We will pass them as originally approved by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee," adding, "We have maintained close communication with the party leadership, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and the special committee. During the process of fleshing out the bill, there were various views on the investigation period." This rebutted Jeong's claim that the agreement differed from the leadership's intent by saying there had been "close communication with the party leadership."
Kim, the floor leader, was said to have been enraged as criticism of the agreement's contents focused on him. When reporters at the National Assembly asked related questions that day, he even said, "Tell Jeong Cheong-rae (the leader) to issue a public apology."
That afternoon, the Democratic Party held a closed-door general meeting of lawmakers to discuss the agreement. Jeong Cheong-rae was said to have apologized to lawmakers for the controversy at the meeting. A Democratic Party official said, "Leader Jeong Cheong-rae apologized to party members and lawmakers, saying the lack of smoothness in the process of producing the revised plan was his shortcoming."
Floor leader Kim Byung-gi also explained to lawmakers the process of consultations with the People Power Party. A Democratic Party official said, "From the perspective of the floor leadership, there was a sense of responsibility to handle the Government Organization Act cleanly, and this process was explained."
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party decided to push ahead, as in the original revised bill, with extending the investigation period and increasing personnel for the three special counsels. Instead, it will submit revised plans on the issues of military prosecutors' command authority, directing investigations when cases are transferred from the special counsel to the National Office of Investigation, and mandatory broadcasting of trials for insurrection. A Democratic Party official said, "The floor leadership and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee are consulting."
After the agreement on the three special counsel laws was scrapped, the People Power Party set a course to wage a fight against the Democratic Party. Choi Su-jin, the People Power Party's chief deputy floor spokesperson, said, "At 2 p.m. on the 12th, we decided at a general meeting of lawmakers to launch a large-scale fight," adding, "We think it is right to fight hard, instead of a filibuster, to let the public know about the Democratic Party's brazen behavior."