Opposition DP pressures ruling party on First Lady probe

[Anchor]

The political arena continues to see a dispute over the special investigation into First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

The Democratic Party has proposed a revised bill that reduces the items under investigation, urging the ruling party to follow public sentiment.

The People Power Party responded that the Democratic Party seems desperate ahead of Representative Lee Jae-myung’s first trial verdict, asserting that there will be no one crossing over.

Reporter Lee Yoo-min has the details.

[Report]

Ahead of the National Assembly's plenary session on Nov. 14, the Democratic Party pressured the People Power Party to support the revised 'Kim Keon-hee Special Investigation Act'.

[Park Chan-dae/Democratic Party Floor Leader: "If Representative Han Dong-hoon and the People Power Party are willing to follow public sentiment, I hope they will seriously cooperate with the special investigation."]

In the revised proposal, the investigation targets are narrowed down to the 'Deutsche Motors stock manipulation' allegations and the allegations related to Myung Tae-kyun from the original 14 items.

[Noh Jong-myu/Democratic Party Spokesperson: "The allegations related to Myung-tae-kyun can be categorized into three main areas: public opinion manipulation, election interference, and vested interests and personnel involvement."]

Regarding the method of recommending the special investigator, the Democratic Party stated it would be a 'third-party recommendation method,' where the Chief Justice recommends four candidates, the opposition party selects two from those, and the President appoints one.

However, if the opposition party deems the Chief Justice's recommended candidates unsuitable, they can exercise a so-called 'veto right' to demand a re-recommendation.

The People Power Party dismissed this as "legislative manipulation."

[Choo Kyung-ho/People Power Party Floor Leader: "It seems that they are using all sorts of tricks because they are quite desperate ahead of the first trial verdict for Representative Lee Jae-myung and his spouse."]

They assured that there would be "no one crossing over" and that they would maintain a "unified front."

They continued their offensive by convening an emergency meeting, stating they would prevent the Democratic Party from interfering with the judiciary.

[Han Dong-hoon/People Power Party Leader: "I cannot believe that all these actions are being taken to obstruct a just and fair judgment."]

During the meeting, criticisms were raised that those who refuse to allow live broadcasts of trials are guilty, and that South Korea is heading down a wrong path because of one opposition leader.

KBS News, Lee Yoo-min.