Cho Kuk: Special Counsel on Fabricated Indictments Without Power to Withdraw Indictments Is My Consistent Position... What Will 'New Lee Jae-myung' Say Now?

Facebook message from Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party’s Innovation Policy Research Institute
"Only after it is established whether indictments were fabricated can withdrawal of indictments be discussed"

Cho Kuk, head of the Innovation Policy Research Institute of the Rebuilding Korea Party, said the so-called “Special Counsel Act on Fabricated Indictments,” which excludes the power to withdraw indictments, had passed the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee in line with the position he had consistently advocated. He added, addressing lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea and the “New Lee Jae-myung” faction, “I wonder what they’ll say now.”

Cho Kuk, head of the Innovation Policy Research Institute of the Rebuilding Korea Party. Yonhap News Agency

On November 5, Cho wrote on Facebook, “The Special Counsel Act on Fabricated Indictments, which does not grant the power to withdraw indictments, passed the Legislation and Judiciary Committee,” adding, “This is what I have consistently advocated.”

He reiterated his longstanding position that whether indictments were fabricated must first be established before withdrawal of the indictments could be discussed. “Only after it has been established whether the indictments were fabricated can the withdrawal of indictments be discussed,” Cho said. “If withdrawing the indictments is put first, it would amount to tailor-made legislation for President Lee Jae-myung. Even setting aside the constitutional issues, it would be difficult to gain public support.”

He added, “Withdrawal of indictments is prohibited in cases that have already reached the second-trial stage.”

Cho also said that when he previously advocated introducing a special counsel excluding the power to withdraw indictments, he was criticized by Democratic Party lawmakers and the so-called “New Lee Jae-myung” faction.

“When I stressed that we should pursue a ‘special counsel on fabricated indictments without the power to withdraw indictments,’ Democratic Party lawmakers belonging to Gongchwimo and the ‘New Lee Jae-myung’ faction rose up like a swarm of bees and harshly criticized me,” he wrote. “I wonder what they’ll say now.”

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