{"id":13899,"date":"2026-11-05T15:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T15:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=13899"},"modified":"2026-11-05T15:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T15:00:19","slug":"special-counsel-bill-on-alleged-fabricated-indictments-introduced-at-plenary-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=13899","title":{"rendered":"Special counsel bill on alleged fabricated indictments introduced at plenary session"},"content":{"rendered":"
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National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik, center, bangs the gavel during a plenary session at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A bill calling for a special counsel probe into allegations of fabricated indictments targeting President Lee Jae Myung and others was brought before a plenary session of the National Assembly on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The bill was introduced by Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik over objections from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), setting the stage for a vote led by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which holds a majority in the Assembly.<\/p>\n

The PPP immediately launched a filibuster, but the DPK said it will end the tactic after 24 hours in accordance with relevant rules and put the bill to a vote Friday.<\/p>\n

The bill, which was first introduced by the DPK in April, calls for an independent counsel to investigate allegations the prosecution under former President Yoon Suk Yeol fabricated evidence or induced false testimonies to build cases against then opposition leader Lee and others.<\/p>\n

Under the bill’s final version, the special prosecutor would be tasked with investigating the prosecution’s indictments in 12 cases.<\/p>\n

Six of them involve the president, with the charges stemming from his time as mayor of Seongnam or governor of Gyeonggi Province, when he was allegedly involved in corrupt development schemes, illegal remittances to North Korea, and the misuse of a government charge card.<\/p>\n

All of the trials resulting from the charges were suspended following his election as president in June last year in accordance with Article 84 of the Constitution, which exempts a sitting president from criminal prosecution except in cases of insurrection or treason.<\/p>\n

The remaining six cases to be included in the special counsel’s mandate mostly concern events that happened during the administration of former President Moon Jae-in of the DPK.<\/p>\n

The PPP has fiercely opposed the bill over what it sees as a pretext to cancel all of Lee’s indictments. In addition to launching a filibuster, the party has vowed to take its protest outside the National Assembly.<\/p>\n

“The indictment cancellation special counsel bill is the worst anticonstitutional coup against parliament in constitutional history,” PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig said at a party meeting earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

“It is the worst trial-meddling special counsel investigation that presses the judiciary to produce an acquittal after predetermining that cases that are mostly on trial were fabricated indictments,” he said.<\/p>\n

The DPK had originally sought to include a clause that allowed the special prosecutor to cancel indictments but removed it from the final version amid backlash from both within and outside the party.<\/p>\n

Still, the PPP argued the findings of the special counsel could be used by the justice ministry or the prosecution to drop charges.<\/p>\n

Should the bill pass, it will be the seventh time an independent counsel is appointed since Lee’s inauguration. The previous investigations have among other things looked into Yoon’s failed attempt to impose martial law, his wife’s alleged corruption, and the unprecedented shortage of ballots during June’s nationwide local elections.<\/p>\n

The new special prosecutor would be chosen by Lee from among three candidates recommended by the DPK, the PPP and the minor Rebuilding Korea Party. The team would comprise up to 309 personnel and work for a maximum period of 200 days. <\/p>\n

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National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik, center, bangs the gavel during a plenary session at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap A bill calling for a special counsel probe into allegations of fabricated indictments targeting President Lee Jae Myung and others was brought before a plenary session of the National Assembly on Thursday. The bill…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t