The Democratic Party of Korea on Monday proposed an amendment to significantly expand the authority and personnel of the second comprehensive special counsel investigating the KimGeon-hee case, the insurrection case, and the Corporal Chae case.
The party's Special Committee on the Second Comprehensive Special Counsel Response submitted the amendment to the National Assembly. Rep. Kang Deuk-gu, the committee's chairman, introduced the bill as its lead sponsor.
The amendment centers on broadening the scope of investigations and reinforcing personnel. First, if the second special counsel makes a request, the first special counsel would be required to provide related investigation and prosecution records. Even when providing records is difficult, the amendment stipulates that access for review and copying must be permitted. The measure aims to prevent friction over the transfer of records between special counsels.
The amendment also allows the special counsel to designate lawyers among special investigators to handle the maintenance of prosecution. The cap on dispatched government officials was raised from 130 to 150. The Ministry of National Defense was added to the list of agencies from which personnel can be requested. In addition to existing provisions covering delays, concealment, and shielding of investigations, "obstruction of audits" was added to the scope of investigation targets, and "harboring a criminal" was explicitly included among related offenses.
"Even a month after its launch, there are difficulties in securing personnel and investigation records," Rep. Kang said. "If we do not promptly address and resolve these issues, there are concerns that time will pass again and we may fail to deliver the investigation results the public demands."
"It is the shared position of our committee and the floor leadership to process this bill as quickly as possible," he added.
