A reserve fund expenditure plan allocating 6 billion won in operating expenses needed to extend the investigation period for the "three special counsels" (special counsels for the insurrection, Kim Keon-hee and the fallen marine cases) passed the Cabinet on the 18th. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok presided over the Cabinet meeting at Government Complex Seoul that morning and deliberated and approved 28 items, including the "2025 general account purpose reserve fund expenditure plan" containing these details.
The plan reflects the approval by President Lee Jae-myung to extend the investigation period for the second time under the revised special counsel laws for the insurrection, Kim Keon-hee and fallen marine cases, and to extend the investigation period for the third time in the fallen marine case. With this, the government secured the legal basis to make an expenditure of 6.06291 billion won in special counsel operating expenses from the 2025 general account purpose reserve fund.
Earlier, on the 6th, the president approved an extension of the investigation period for the "special counsel investigating the insurrection case," which is looking into former President Yoon Suk-yeol's Dec. 3 martial law-related insurrection and treason allegations. Under Article 10 of the special counsel law on the insurrection case, the originally specified 30-day investigation period was extended, allowing the special counsel to investigate until the 14th of next month. The presidential office said it approved the last investigation period extension permitted under the special counsel law on the insurrection case "so that the liquidation of the insurrection and national unity can be achieved," adding, "We will do our best to safeguard the Constitution and democracy and to realize popular sovereignty."
The special counsel applied for the final extension of the investigation deadline in consideration of the date for the vote on the motion to arrest People Power Party Rep. Chu Kyung-ho. The National Assembly will hold a plenary session on the 27th and put the motion to arrest Rep. Chu to a vote. For a court to conduct a pretrial detention hearing for a sitting lawmaker, it must obtain the consent of the National Assembly.
At the Cabinet meeting that day, the government also approved three bills, including a partial amendment to the Framework Act on National Heritage to abolish the existing Cultural Heritage Committee, Natural Heritage Committee and Intangible Heritage Committee and to establish and integrate the National Heritage Committee under the Korea Heritage Service, as well as 22 presidential decrees, including a partial amendment to the rules on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its affiliated agencies to increase the number of police liaison officers for protecting overseas Koreans.