A bill to extend the investigation period of the second comprehensive special counsel, which investigates shortcomings in the results of the "three major special counsels" on insurrection, Kim Keon-hee, and Chae Hae-byung, passed the National Assembly plenary session led by the Democratic Party of Korea. The People Power Party, which launched a filibuster (a lawful obstruction of proceedings through unlimited debate) in opposition to the bill, did not take part in the vote.
On the afternoon of the 21st, the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor for Fact-Finding on Acts of Insurrection, Treason, and State Capture by Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Keon-hee, with 173 in favor out of 173 present.
The amendment increases the number of extensions of the investigation time that require presidential approval for the comprehensive special counsel from one 30-day extension to two 30-day extensions. With the amendment's passage, the comprehensive special counsel renewed the investigation deadline from the 24th to the 23rd of next month.
The amendment also increases the number of government officials dispatched to the special counsel from 130 to 150. It adds "obstruction of audit" by officials related to the case to the scope of the investigation. It also allows designating up to 10 special investigators with at least five years of legal experience as trial prosecutors to maintain indictments.
The Democratic Party argued that extending the investigation period was unavoidable to bolster the substance of the comprehensive special counsel's probe. Seo Young-kyo, a Democratic Party lawmaker who chairs the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said in a proposal explanation when the amendment was introduced the previous day, "We proposed the special counsel law on the grounds that it is difficult to completely root out the remnants of insurrection by Yoon Suk-yeol and others and the remnants of state capture by Kim Keon-hee and others."
The People Power Party launched a filibuster against the amendment but failed to block the pro-government bloc's cloture vote. Under the National Assembly Act, a filibuster can be ended 24 hours after more than one-third of all members submit a motion to end debate, with the approval of at least three-fifths of all members.
Choi Bo-yun, the People Power Party's chief spokesperson, issued a commentary immediately after the amendment passed, saying, "An endless special counsel for 'permanent political revenge' that will be completed by bypassing the president's veto—history will record it and the people will judge it," adding, "The reason the special counsel law sets a time limit for investigations is to conduct a focused probe in a short period and be accountable for the results, but since they failed to produce results the public can accept, they revised the law to open the way for a third extension."