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The ruling and opposition parties reached a final agreement on the investigation targets and scope, the most contentious issue in the "National Election Commission (NEC) special counsel bill." The bill is expected to be tabled and passed at the plenary session on the 30th after review by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
Han Byung-do, acting Democratic Party leader and floor leader, along with Chief Deputy Floor Leader Chun Jun-ho, People Power Party floor leader Chung Jum-sik, and Chief Deputy Floor Leader Kim Seung-su, finalized the details of the special counsel bill after repeated last-minute negotiations at the National Assembly that day.
The bill's official name was set as the "Act on the Appointment of a Special Counsel to Investigate Allegations of Infringement of the People's Right to Participate in Politics, Including the Shortage of Ballot Papers in the 9th Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections (NEC Special Counsel Act)."
Specifically, the scope of the investigation includes: allegations of infringement of voting rights due to ballot paper shortages; allegations of forcibly proceeding with ballot counting without suspending it or taking preservation measures; allegations of illegality in the NEC's decision-making process, such as lowering the minimum standard for the printing volume of main-vote ballots; and allegations of errors in the computerized input of the election management system, such as turnout tallying manipulation, and manipulation of election statistics.
The special counsel's investigative team will consist of five assistant special counsels, 70 special investigators, up to 20 seconded prosecutors, and up to 70 seconded public officials excluding prosecutors. The investigation must conclude within 90 days from the day after a 20-day preparation period expires, counted from the day the special counsel is appointed. If necessary, the investigation may be extended twice by 30 days each.
Immediately after the ruling-opposition agreement, Chief Deputy Floor Leader Kim said, "The method of recommending the special counsel had already been agreed upon, and after that we discussed the two parties' views on the investigation targets over a long period." He added, "We agreed on the disputed points and decided to pass it at today's plenary session."
Chief Deputy Floor Leader Chun said, "Negotiations were held on the key issues, investigation targets, and scope related to the composition of the special counsel," adding, "The agreed content will be delivered to the two parties' Legislation and Judiciary Committee secretaries in the form of a written agreement."
Following the ruling-opposition agreement, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's First Subcommittee on Bill Review immediately convened and began work to translate the agreement into the bill's provisions. As soon as the drafting work is completed, it will be tabled at the plenary session after review by the full Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
Earlier, on the 21st of this month, the parties agreed to form a citizens' recommendation committee to appoint the NEC special counsel. The citizens' recommendation committee will receive three recommendations each from the Korean Bar Association and the Law School Council, recommend two of them to the president by ruling-opposition agreement, and the president will appoint one of the two.
The parties also agreed to extend by 30 days the activities of the NEC parliamentary investigation special committee, whose official activities are set to end on the 1st of next month. During the special committee's additional activity period, a recount of the ballot boxes at the Olympic Park counting station is also expected to be conducted.
