The ruling Democratic Party has decided to pursue the introduction of a special counsel system as its party platform regarding the National Election Commission's shortage of ballot papers during the June 3 local elections. Han Byung-do, acting leader of the Democratic Party and floor leader, announced this policy Thursday, stating, "There is no sanctuary whatsoever when it comes to reforming the election commission." Rather than accepting the People Power Party's longstanding call to pursue a special counsel, the Democratic Party had previously sought to dissolve the election commission through a one-point constitutional amendment. The party now appears to have changed direction amid falling approval ratings. The rival parties should now swiftly legislate a special counsel law and recommend a neutral and competent figure as the special counsel candidate to support a sanctuary-free investigation into the truth.
Our military has belatedly offered an explanation for not immediately notifying the public of North Korea's recent ballistic missile launch. The Ministry of National Defense only briefed Thursday that South Korea and the United States detected and tracked North Korea's projectile in real time on the 25th of this month and coordinated closely. Regarding the reason for not making an announcement at the time, the ministry explained that "we were in a situation where various pieces of intelligence were first being analyzed." In an emergency, if North Korea fires a missile, it could strike the South Korean capital region directly within minutes. If the military detected it, isn't it common sense to notify the public first, before analyzing intelligence?
