According to Kyunghyang Shinmun and News1, the bill went to the plenary on the 5th and the PPP began its filibuster at about 3:59 p.m., with Rep. Park Hyung-soo, the opposition secretary of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, as the first speaker. The Democratic Party filed a motion to end debate at about 4:01 p.m.; under the National Assembly Act, debate can end only after 24 hours have passed since the filibuster began and with approval of at least three-fifths of the members.

Twig24 reported that the PPP said it will filibuster every other agenda item once the bill is on the floor, so handling of livelihood bills is also expected to slow. At that day’s plenary, a resolution urging the expulsion of PPP lawmaker Kim Tae-kyu and a resolution creating a special committee on mega-region strategic industry zones passed under the ruling bloc’s lead, with the PPP not taking part in the votes. Presidential office chief spokesperson Kang Yu-jung declined to state a direct position, saying the matter is under Assembly deliberation.

Points of contention: a special counsel holding both investigation and indictment powers

Taken together, Kyunghyang’s reporting says the bill gives the special counsel both investigative and prosecutorial powers. The special counsel’s power to cancel indictments, present in the original draft, was deleted, but a new clause says the principle of separating investigation from prosecution will not apply to the special counsel and deputies even if the Criminal Procedure Act is amended. Critics note that the ruling party, which has championed that separation, makes an exception for this probe.

There are 12 investigation targets. Kyunghyang explained that beyond cases involving President Lee, the list adds the shooting of a West Sea official, repatriation of North Korean fishermen and statistics manipulation, as well as suspicions over preferential hiring of former President Moon Jae-in’s son-in-law and manipulation of the Wolsong-1 reactor’s economic assessment. The Democratic Party, the PPP and the Rebuilding Korea Party each recommend one candidate and the president appoints one of the three; the team can reach 309 people including 20 seconded prosecutors, with up to 200 days of investigation including a 20-day preparation period.

The protest schedule and the partisan exchange

According to Kyunghyang Shinmun, chief floor spokesperson Choi Su-jin announced a steps rally in front of the Assembly main building at 3 p.m. on the 6th, a street protest near Exit 1 of Gyeongbokgung Station at 3 p.m. on Saturday the 7th, an on-site supreme council meeting in front of the presidential office on the 9th and a caucus meeting there on the 10th. The 10th is the day the promulgation of the bill passed by the Assembly is expected to be approved at the Cabinet Council. In the budget committee the party will not boycott but will make procedural remarks without questions or send just one questioner.

Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk claimed the law would be ‘not a special counsel to cancel indictments but a special counsel to cancel the government’, and floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik called the structure, in which the president appoints the counsel who investigates his own cases, ‘the worst unconstitutional parliamentary coup in constitutional history’. Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do said the counsel is not meant to interfere in trials but to uncover illegality in the investigation process, and that anyone who coerced statements or distorted evidence should be held accountable. Whether a constitutionality dispute or follow-up legal action will actually follow passage has not been confirmed.