South Korea’s opposition parties reintroduced a bill on Thursday to appoint a special counsel and investigate the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol on charges of insurrection. The move marks the second attempt to establish an independent investigation after the first bill failed in a revote the previous day.
Six opposition parties, including the main liberal Democratic Party, jointly submitted the bill to the National Assembly. The earlier bill was scrapped as most lawmakers from the ruling conservative People Power Party, which holds 108 seats, voted against it. For the bill to pass in the revote, it will require the support of at least two-thirds of the 300-member National Assembly.
The revised bill proposes two candidates for the independent counsel to be recommended by the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Additionally, it limits the number of dispatched prosecutors and investigators to 155 and shortens the investigation period to 150 days, a reduction from the provisions of the first bill.
President Yoon’s impeachment motion was passed by the National Assembly on December 14, 2024, and was subsequently forwarded to the Constitutional Court for deliberation. The court has up to 180 days to reach a decision, during which Yoon’s presidential powers remain suspended.
The impeachment followed allegations that Yoon, identified by investigative agencies as a suspected ringleader in an insurrection plot, declared martial law on December 3, 2024. The declaration was overturned by the National Assembly within hours, further fueling political tensions.
The resubmission of the special counsel bill underscores the deep divisions between South Korea’s opposition and ruling parties over the handling of Yoon’s impeachment and the broader political crisis. The outcome of the bill’s revote will be a pivotal moment in determining the trajectory of the investigation and the country’s political stability.
