Opposition party pushes special probe on First Lady amid budget rule change

[Anchor]

The opposition party has passed a proposal to amend the National Assembly rules for the introduction of a permanent special investigation team, excluding the ruling party, in a National Assembly subcommittee.

The Democratic Party, which also passed a bill to abolish the automatic referral of the budget bill to the plenary session, pressured the acceptance of the special investigation law targeting First Lady Kim Keon-hee, but the People Power Party opposed it, arguing this would halt the nation's finances.

Lee Seung-jae reports.

[Report]

The opposition party unilaterally passed the 'National Assembly Rules Amendment Bill' in the National Assembly's Operations Committee subcommittee.

The bill includes provisions to exclude the ruling party from the nomination committee for the permanent special investigation team, officially pushing for a special investigation targeting Kim Keon-hee.

The law to abolish the automatic referral of the budget also passed the subcommittee.

The Constitution stipulates that the budget must be processed in the National Assembly 30 days before execution, and since 2014, both parties have enforced an automatic referral of the government's original budget to the plenary session on Dec. 1 if there is no agreement.

The People Power Party strongly opposed, stating that the opposition's move to halt the country's finances under the pretext of budget review is a threat.

[Bae June-young/People Power Party Floor Leader: "We strongly urge you to stop the attempt to ruin the country by surpassing parliamentary dictatorship with a majority and to return to the essence of the Assembly."]

However, the Democratic Party repeatedly pressured the acceptance of the 'Kim Keon-hee Special Investigation Law.'

In particular, they launched an offensive by mentioning media reports that a non-public opinion poll report by Myung Tae-kyun was used in a meeting of Yoon Suk Yeol's presidential candidate camp.

[Jo Seoung-lae/Senior Spokesperson of the Democratic Party: "It cannot be covered up with silence and lies. Myung Tae-kyun manipulated the opinion polls to shake the presidential race and, in return, meddled in state affairs."]

Meanwhile, the People Power Party and the Democratic Party held the first meeting of the 'Common Livelihood Promise Promotion Council' and began negotiations on bills to be processed in the National Assembly by the end of the year.

This is KBS News, Lee Seung-jae.