The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 12th convened the agenda coordination committee and, led by the Democratic Party of Korea, passed the second comprehensive special counsel bill on the Dec. 3 martial law emergency and related matters. The special counsel bill on the Unification Church, which had initially been referred to the same committee, was put on hold.
Kim Yong-min, the ruling party secretary on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and a Democratic Party lawmaker, met with reporters after the committee on the day and said, "We concluded that we would reinvestigate the areas that were insufficiently probed in the existing three special counsels (Kim Keon-hee, insurrection, Chae Hae-byeong)."
The investigation period for the second comprehensive special counsel is a total of 170 days, including a 20-day preparation period. The investigative staff was expanded to five assistant special counsels and 100 special investigators. There will be 15 prosecutors and 130 dispatched public officials. One special counsel will be recommended each by the Democratic Party and the largest non-negotiating bloc, the Rebuilding Korea Party.
Kim said, "Reducing the number of dispatched prosecutors stemmed from the view that the special counsel needs to move away from an investigation method overly reliant on prosecutors," adding, "Given that the prosecution could be included among the investigative targets, we saw it as reasonable to reduce dispatched prosecutors."
The Democratic Party will sequentially convene the first subcommittee on bill review of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and a full committee meeting on the day to handle the second comprehensive special counsel bill. The bill is expected to be placed on the agenda at the plenary session scheduled for the 15th.
The special counsel bill to investigate allegations that political figures received money or valuables from the Unification Church was put on hold. Since a joint investigation headquarters of the prosecution and police has been launched on the allegations, the intent is to pursue further coordination between the ruling and opposition parties.
Park Ji-won, chair of the agenda coordination subcommittee of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, met with reporters on the morning of the day and said, "The Unification Church and Shincheonji special counsels will be put on hold at the agenda coordination committee today (the 12th)," adding, "The new leadership brought that view. As the special investigation headquarters (joint headquarters) is conducting the probe, we will further coordinate with the opposition."