Jeong Jeomsik: "Agreement Reached on Election Commission Special Counsel... No Special Prosecutor Appointment Without Opposition Consent"

Opening Remarks at the People Power Party General Assembly on July 21

Jeong Jeom-sik, floor leader of the People Power Party, emphasized on the 21st that "there will be no recommendation for a special prosecutor without the consent of the opposition party," asserting the fairness of the process for nominating special prosecutor candidates regarding the bipartisan agreement on a special prosecutor bill related to the 'June 3rd Violation of People's Suffrage' incident.

During a general assembly of lawmakers held at the National Assembly that day, Floor Leader Jeong stated, "From the standpoint of those who have consistently demanded a special prosecutor recommended by the opposition, there is certainly some disappointment," but also said, "We have sufficiently secured a nomination process for the special prosecutor that guarantees objectivity and fairness."

Yonhap News Agency

According to the bipartisan agreement, a 'Public Recommendation Committee' will be established in the National Assembly to recommend candidates for special prosecutor. The committee will be comprised of six members, with each negotiation group of the Assembly nominating three committee members. The committee will receive recommendations for special prosecutor candidates from both the Korean Bar Association and the Association of Law Schools, three from each organization. Through consensus, two candidates will be recommended to the president, who will then appoint one of them as special prosecutor.

Floor Leader Jeong explained, "It was agreed that if consensus is not reached within the committee, the two organizations will be asked for additional recommendations. Since candidate recommendations are to be made strictly based on consensus within the committee, it is structurally impossible for a special prosecutor to be appointed against the will of the opposition party."

"I fully understand concerns and disappointment regarding the special prosecutor not being selected under the leadership of the opposition party," he continued. "However, as seen with last year's stalled parliamentary inquiry on Daejang-dong and the special prosecutor for the Unification Church earlier this year, there is the possibility that the Democratic Party might only pay lip service to a special prosecutor and ultimately let the initiative fizzle out."

He added, "Above all, please understand that, at the very least, a special prosecutor must be launched for this June 3rd Violation of People's Suffrage incident."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.