PPP rejects Democratic Party's 'third-party' special prosecutor proposal for election watchdog probe

The People Power Party on Saturday effectively rejected the Democratic Party of Korea's proposal for a "third-party recommended" special prosecutor to investigate the ballot shortage scandal at the National Election Commission, arguing that only an opposition-led recommendation process can guarantee the probe's independence and effectiveness.

Yoon Sang-hyun, a PPP lawmaker who chairs the National Assembly's special parliamentary investigation committee, said at a National Assembly briefing that day that even under a third-party recommendation system, "the president ultimately appoints the special prosecutor." He added that because the state had failed to take adequate steps to protect citizens' voting rights, "the president, the government and the election commission are all subjects of the investigation."

"In this situation, a special prosecutor recommended by the opposition party would be far more helpful in getting to the truth of the ballot shortage incident," Yoon said.

Ju Jin-woo, another PPP member of the parliamentary investigation committee, also sharply criticized the Democratic Party's proposal.

In a Facebook post Saturday, Ju said Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do had announced plans to pursue a special prosecutor act for the election commission probe under a third-party recommendation system involving the Korean Bar Association, but that this was unacceptable. "The special prosecutor must be free from any government influence for a no-holds-barred investigation and electoral reform to be possible," he said.

Ju then pointed to the Democratic Party's change of position. "When the Democratic Party was in opposition, it insisted on recommending the special prosecutor itself for various probes, including the Marine corporal death investigation," he said. "Why has its position now done a complete 180?"

He added that "a special prosecutor not recommended by the People Power Party would have no real effectiveness," and that "the Democratic Party's influence must be blocked at the source."

In a separate Facebook post, Ju shared a news headline noting that Wi Cheol-hwan, the acting chairman of the National Election Commission, is a former president of the Korean Bar Association, and asked, "Is the Democratic Party proposing that a special prosecutor recommended by the bar association investigate the very person who used to lead it?" He said the proposal carried "a clear risk of conflict of interest."

Earlier, Han, the Democratic Party's acting party leader and floor leader, had announced plans to pursue a special prosecutor recommendation system involving a third party such as the Korean Bar Association in order to ensure the political neutrality of the election commission probe.