Floor Leader Song Eon-seok speaking. Yonhap News. 

The People Power Party announced on the 12th that it would propose a "Special Counsel Act on Violent Investigations by the Min Joong-ki Special Counsel" (tentative title) in relation to the death of a Yangpyeong-gun public official who had been questioned by the special counsel team investigating allegations surrounding First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

Floor Leader Song Eon-seok held a press conference at the National Assembly that day and stated, "The 'monster special counsel,' born from the ruling party's unilateral, forced passage of a bill, has inflicted legitimate violence upon a citizen who should have been protected by the state, ultimately leading to their death."

Song emphasized, "We must uncover the truth by investigating suspicions of anti-human rights, violent investigative practices by the special counsel to ensure no more innocent citizens fall victim to coercive investigations," adding, "We cannot expect anything from a political police force or the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) that only looks to serve those in power. Only a special counsel can properly investigate the violence perpetrated by another special counsel."

Referring to a handwritten note left by the deceased, he argued, "It appears that the investigation forced a distorted statement from the deceased by predetermining the conclusion and framing testimonies to fit it," claiming that "in short, this is an atrocious, violent investigation, an attempt at investigative manipulation, and an attempted fabricated prosecution."

He also urged, "I trust that National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik and the Democratic Party, who have taken the lead in protecting citizens' human rights more than anyone else, will agree to this Special Counsel Act to resolve the grievance of the deceased," and added, "I hope the floor leader of the ruling party will convene a plenary session as soon as possible to process this special counsel bill."

He further added, "If the Democratic Party sincerely intends to open a plenary session on the 15th to process bills, the proper sequence is to first reach an agreement on how to handle the special counsel act regarding the special counsel."

People Power Party lawmakers on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee also held a press conference at the National Assembly that day, stating, "We have additionally requested (officials from the Min Joong-ki special counsel team) to appear as witnesses for the parliamentary audit," and added, "We will surely uncover the truth behind the procedural illegalities during the incident involving the public official's death caused by the Min Joong-ki special counsel."

They demanded, "Immediately stop the forced autopsy of the deceased and disclose the deceased's suicide note and all closed-circuit (CCTV) footage of the investigation process to the public immediately."

In addition, they requested that police and prosecution officials involved in the arrest of former Korea Communications Commission Chairperson Lee Jin-sook, as well as officials from Open Gonggam TV—the source of the transcript regarding the 'Cho Hee-dae-Han Duck-soo meeting allegations'—be summoned as witnesses for the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's parliamentary audit.

They also requested the attendance of the President's Office Administrator Kim Hyun-ji and the heads of broadcasting companies responsible for the variety show that President Lee Jae-myung and his wife appeared on during the Chuseok holiday.

Yonhap News