The floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties continued negotiations on the 18th over a special counsel bill on alleged bribes involving the Unification Church and nominations but failed to narrow their differences. Even in a closed-door meeting that lasted about 30 minutes, the talks collapsed after only confirming their differences.
The Democratic Party of Korea said in a media notice that day that floor leader Han Byung-do of the Democratic Party of Korea and floor leader Song Eon-seog of the People Power Party held a one-on-one closed-door meeting at the National Assembly for about 30 minutes.
At the meeting, floor leader Song reiterated the existing position of handling only a separate special counsel on the Unification Church from the Unification Church–Shincheonji special counsel sought by the Democratic Party of Korea. But floor leader Han countered that a Unification Church–Shincheonji special counsel should be launched to include as investigative targets not only the Unification Church but also political interference by religious groups such as Shincheonji.
In response, the Democratic Party of Korea said, "The negotiations ran in parallel and ended without any agreement or progress," adding, "There will be no additional meeting scheduled on the 19th."
Meanwhile, People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok is on a hunger strike for the fourth day at the National Assembly, urging the Democratic Party of Korea to accept the "dual special counsels" on the Unification Church and alleged bribes for nominations. The Democratic Party of Korea responded that it was "political theater to evade investigation" and said it could not accept it.