President Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday asked the ruling Democratic Party to determine the specific timing and procedures for its proposed "fabricated indictment special counsel" investigation through public consultation and deliberation. The remarks, delivered roughly a month before the June 3 local elections, are being interpreted as a call to slow the pace in response to public opinion.
Hong Ik-pyo, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, told a briefing at the Chunchu-gwan press room that Lee described "uncovering the truth through a special counsel and restoring judicial justice" as "something that absolutely must be done."
Hong added that Lee said, "Through this parliamentary investigation, a significant portion of the illegal acts and unjust investigations carried out by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and the political prosecution have been exposed," and that "a national consensus has also formed on the need for a special counsel probe to set these wrongs right."
While acknowledging the shared view on the need for a special counsel, Lee's message indicated that the actual timing and method of its introduction should sufficiently reflect public opinion. The presidential office had previously refrained from taking a clear position on the fabricated indictment special counsel. By personally calling for public consultation and deliberation, however, Lee effectively put the brakes on the Democratic Party's legislative push, analysts said. The Democratic Party leadership had initially planned to pass the special counsel bill at a plenary session as early as Friday, but is now expected to weigh the timing of the bill's introduction more carefully.
Meanwhile, major opposition candidates running in the June 3 local elections held an "Emergency Joint Meeting of Capital Area Metropolitan Government Candidates to Block Judicial Insurrection" at the National Assembly on the same day. Attendees included Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon and Incheon mayoral candidate Yoo Jeong-bok of the People Power Party, along with Seoul mayoral candidate Kim Jung-chul and Gyeonggi gubernatorial candidate Cho Eung-chun of the Reform Party. People Power Party Gyeonggi gubernatorial candidate Yang Hyang-ja also joined in spirit but left after a photo session due to scheduling conflicts. "We demand that President Lee and the Democratic Party clearly state that they will abandon this attempt," Oh said.
The meeting was held after Cho proposed an emergency joint meeting of capital area metropolitan government candidates the previous day. Following the meeting, the candidates issued a joint statement demanding "the immediate withdrawal of the 'Lee Jae-myung self-pardon special counsel law.'"
They also urged Lee to "clearly declare before the people that 'there will absolutely be no withdrawal of prosecution of my charges during my term and that I will stand trial according to law and principle,'" and pledged to "launch a nationwide online signature campaign to block a judicial coup."
Fabricated Indictment Special Counsel Bill Hits Brakes Amid Signs of Conservative Rally
The Democratic Party's move to moderate the pace of its fabricated indictment special counsel push appears to reflect signs of conservative consolidation detected in an election landscape it had initially expected to dominate.
Cho Seung-rae, the Democratic Party's secretary general, told a press briefing at the National Assembly on Wednesday that the party would "proceed after considering the impact on the election and gathering diverse opinions" regarding the handling of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration fabricated indictment special counsel bill. The remarks align with Lee's message that "the handling of the special counsel bill should go through further national deliberation," marking a step back from the party's earlier position suggesting passage before the local elections.
Some interpret the move as reflecting the views of candidates in the Yeongnam region, where the Democratic Party is considered at a disadvantage. Rep. Kwon Chil-seung, who is supporting Daegu mayoral candidate Kim Bu-kyum, reportedly posted a message on a Telegram chat of about 150 Democratic Party lawmakers saying, "The handling of the special counsel bill should be postponed until after the local elections." The message reflected concerns that pushing the special counsel bill is galvanizing conservative voters. According to a Realmeter survey commissioned by Energy Kyungje Shinmun of 2,006 adults aged 18 and over nationwide from last month 27-30 (margin of error ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, response rate 4.6%), Lee's job approval rating fell to 59.5%, breaking below the 60% threshold for the first time in eight weeks. Some polls for the Daegu mayoral race also showed Kim locked in a tight contest within the margin of error against People Power Party candidate Choo Kyung-ho.
As the ruling bloc found itself on the defensive over the handling of the special counsel bill, the opposition stepped up its offensive. Opposition candidates for capital area metropolitan governments held the meeting on the same day and pledged to jointly respond to the bill's passage.
Cho, who proposed the joint meeting, criticized the move, saying, "How can a special counsel appointed by the president withdraw the prosecution of the president's own crimes? On a foundation where the rule of law has collapsed, both local autonomy and the livelihoods of the people are nothing more than castles in the sand." Oh said, "It is truly lamentable that a case hardly seen even in African underdeveloped democracies decades ago is unfolding in 21st-century Korea," adding, "A consensus is forming that no matter how busy the local election schedule, we must unite our minds and absolutely block this."
For more details on the poll, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
