DP pushes for probe into prosecutors who targeted Lee, Moon

A special counsel is a separately appointed investigator given a defined mandate to examine allegations that ordinary authorities may be unable or unwilling to handle impartially. This proposal matters because it targets alleged abuses involving cases connected to President Lee Jae Myung and former President Moon Jae-in.

The counsel would investigate alleged evidence fabrication and claims that former President Yoon Suk Yeol influenced officials to persecute liberal politicians. Its targets could include officials from the now-defunct prosecution, the National Intelligence Service, and the Board of Audit and Inspection. Unlike a purely fact-finding body, it could both investigate and indict.

The team could include more than 300 staff and operate for up to 200 days. President Lee has the power to appoint the counsel. The bill no longer includes clauses that might have allowed the counsel to cancel Lee's criminal indictments, after those provisions caused a monthslong legislative pause.

The proposed special counsel would investigate whether prosecutors and other officials abused their authority while pursuing cases involving Lee Jae Myung and Moon Jae-in. The Democratic Party says the cases reflected politically motivated prosecutions. The opposition rejects that explanation and says the bill interferes with judicial processes.

Specifically, the bill covers allegations that evidence was fabricated and that former President Yoon Suk Yeol influenced officials to persecute liberal politicians. The investigation would target officials from the now-defunct prosecution, the National Intelligence Service, and the Board of Audit and Inspection. It would also examine additional cases involving Moon, including an alleged bribery case involving his son-in-law.

The investigation would focus on possible law violations during investigation and prosecution, according to Democratic lawmaker Cheon Jun-ho. He said its purpose was not to overturn existing court rulings. The special counsel would have authority to investigate and indict, making the inquiry more consequential than a review without prosecutorial powers.

The proposed investigation would have substantial resources and a clear time limit. The bill provides for an investigative team of over 300 staff, which would allow the counsel to examine multiple agencies and cases at once. The inquiry could continue for up to 200 days.

Its scope is broad because it would cover officials from the now-defunct prosecution, the National Intelligence Service, and the Board of Audit and Inspection. The counsel would examine alleged evidence fabrication and claims of political influence over prosecutions. The investigation has also widened to include more cases involving former President Moon Jae-in, including a bribery case involving his son-in-law.

The proposal would be the seventh parliament-sponsored special counsel since President Lee's inauguration. Earlier special counsels mainly targeted criminal allegations involving former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, Kim Keon Hee. The bill's scale and range make its passage significant, even though its mandate lasts less than a year.

The Democratic Party can likely pass the bill because it holds a majority in the National Assembly. The article says the party can move bills through both the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the plenary session without the opposition's consent. That gives it control over the main procedural stages.

The committee, chaired by Democratic lawmaker Seo Young-kyo, removed clauses that had delayed the bill. Those clauses could have allowed the special counsel to cancel Lee Jae Myung's criminal indictments. The committee then allowed the proposal to reach Thursday's plenary session, despite the lack of bipartisan agreement over tabling it.

The Democratic Party also announced that all 161 of its lawmakers would vote for the bill. The People Power Party opposes it and discussed protests outside parliament. Even so, the ruling party's majority makes passage likely, with a vote expected on Friday. The opposition cannot block the bill through ordinary parliamentary voting alone.

The bill could change the political and legal context around criminal cases involving Lee Jae Myung and Moon Jae-in, but it does not directly erase existing court rulings. Democratic lawmaker Cheon Jun-ho said the counsel's purpose would be to determine whether law violations occurred during investigation and prosecution.

A major change came when the Legislation and Judiciary Committee removed clauses that could have allowed the special counsel to cancel Lee's criminal indictments. Lee's trials, including a breach-of-trust case linked to a major land development scandal, were already suspended shortly after his inauguration. The proposed counsel would examine how those cases were handled.

The investigation has also widened to more cases involving Moon, including an alleged bribery case involving his son-in-law. The bill could therefore expose officials to investigation and indictment, but its stated mechanism is reviewing prosecutorial conduct rather than overturning rulings. Its ultimate legal consequences depend on findings and later proceedings.

The two parties describe the same proposal in opposite ways because they disagree about the history and purpose of the prosecutions. The Democratic Party says the special counsel is needed to correct politically motivated cases involving President Lee Jae Myung and former President Moon Jae-in. It presents the inquiry as accountability for prosecutorial misconduct.

The party points to allegations of fabricated evidence and claims that former President Yoon Suk Yeol influenced officials to persecute liberal politicians. Its lawmakers say the counsel would examine possible violations during investigations and prosecutions, not overturn court rulings. That distinction is central to their justification.

The People Power Party argues that the bill is an abuse of power designed to influence the judiciary and unfairly exonerate liberal politicians. Its whip, Jeong Jeom-sig, called the move an anti-constitutional parliamentary coup. The dispute reflects competing claims about whether the proposal restores fairness or lets the ruling majority rewrite accountability for its leaders.

In a constitutional system, lawmakers create legal rules and authorize investigations, prosecutors investigate and bring charges, and courts decide guilt or liability. These roles are meant to prevent one institution from controlling the entire process. The article's dispute matters because the proposed counsel would operate across several parts of that structure.

Here, the National Assembly is using its legislative majority to define and approve the special counsel's mandate. The counsel would investigate alleged misconduct and could indict officials. Courts would remain the bodies that decide criminal cases. The bill's removed clauses are important because they would have allowed the counsel to cancel Lee's indictments, while Democratic lawmakers now say it would not overturn rulings.

The president provides another appointment point: President Lee has the power to appoint the counsel. That creates a political concern for the opposition because the investigation involves cases connected to Lee and Moon. The article does not detail every constitutional safeguard, so these roles describe the stated institutional checks, not a complete legal analysis.