National Assembly passes special counsel bill to probe Marine's death

People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers complain to National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, left, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday as Woo concluded the PPP's filibuster. [YONHAP]

The National Assembly on Thursday passed a controversial bill mandating a special counsel probe into allegations that the Defense Ministry meddled in an official investigation into a Marine's death last year.

The bill's passage, led by the liberal Democratic Party (DP), came more than a month after it was scrapped on May 28 when President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoed it after his Cabinet passed a motion demanding the National Assembly reconsider the bill. The DP proposed the bill again after the new National Assembly session began in late May.

Following the bill's passage, the National Assembly Speaker’s Office announced that the opening ceremony for the 22nd National Assembly, scheduled for Friday, would be postponed. The postponement came after conservative People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers said they would not attend the ceremony and requested the president not attend as well.

The bill was passed with 189 out of 190 lawmakers in favor and one opposing. Most conservative PPP lawmakers left the site after voting on the bill began. The vote occurred after 186 lawmakers agreed to end the filibuster that had been ongoing since Wednesday afternoon. The PPP, aligned with the government, did not participate in the vote to end the debate.

The filibuster continued overnight and concluded Thursday afternoon. According to the National Assembly Act, a filibuster can be forcibly ended after 24 hours if at least three-fifths of the lawmakers agree to conclude it. The DP submitted an agreement to end the debate about six minutes after it began the previous day.

Earlier in the day, DP floor leader Park Chan-dae warned President Yoon that “denying public sentiment and vetoing the special counsel probe will lead him to a path of downfall and catastrophe” during a party policy meeting.

The DP-led bill calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate allegations that the Defense Ministry and the presidential office interfered in the military’s official inquest into the death of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who drowned while conducting a search and rescue mission during heavy rain and flooding in July last year.

The DP pushed the special counsel probe bill through the previous 21st National Assembly at the end of April. Both the PPP and the Yoon administration have argued that a special counsel probe should not take place before the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) release the results of their ongoing investigation.

Following the bill's passage, the presidential office expressed “regret over the violation of the Constitution” due to the bill's railroading.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]