President Lee Jae-myung said Tuesday that the ruling Democratic Party of Korea should decide the specific timing and procedures of the so-called "fabricated indictment special counsel probe" through public consultation and deliberation. The remarks are interpreted as a call to slow the pace of the initiative as public opinion on the special counsel has deteriorated ahead of the June 3 local elections.
Hong Ik-pyo, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, held a briefing at the Chunchugwan press room and said, "Through this parliamentary inquiry, a significant portion of the illegal acts and unjust investigations carried out by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and the political prosecution have been uncovered." He added, "A national consensus has also been formed on the need for a special counsel investigation to rectify this."
Lee's message is interpreted as meaning that while there is no disagreement on the need for a special counsel investigation, public opinion should be taken into account in determining the detailed timing and procedures. The presidential office had previously not taken a clear stance on the fabricated indictment special counsel. However, analysts say that by personally calling for public consultation and deliberation, Lee has effectively put the brakes on passing the special counsel bill before the June 3 local elections. The Democratic Party leadership had initially planned to pass the bill at a National Assembly plenary session as early as Friday, but is expected to deliberate further over the timing of introducing the legislation.
Major opposition candidates running in the June 3 local elections held an "Emergency Joint Meeting of Metropolitan Mayoral Candidates to Block the Judicial Insurrection" at the National Assembly on the same day. Attending the meeting were People Power Party candidates Oh Se-hoon, running for Seoul mayor, and Yoo Jeong-bok, running for Incheon mayor, along with Reform Party candidates Kim Jung-chul, running for Seoul mayor, and Cho Eung-cheon, running for Gyeonggi governor. "We demand that President Lee and the Democratic Party clearly state their position to abandon this attempt," Oh said.
