Democratic Party-led 'Fabricated Indictment Special Counsel Act' Passes Legislation Committee… Special Counsel's Power to Withdraw Indictments Removed

The 'Fabricated Indictment Special Counsel Act,' a bill long contested between the ruling and opposition parties, passed the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee (the standing committee that reviews bills) on the evening of the 4th, driven by the Democratic Party. The bill was revised to remove the special counsel's authority to withdraw indictments while adding three cases from the Moon Jae-in administration.

People Power Party lawmakers boycotted the vote on the bill in protest and walked out of the chamber. Some 30 members of the party held a rally in front of the committee room that afternoon, shouting, "Withdraw the anti-Lee Jae-myung special counsel act immediately."

The list of subjects under investigation remains at 12 cases. The cases related to President Lee — including allegations of breach of trust and receiving improper benefits in the Daejang-dong, Wirye, and Baekhyeon-dong development projects, suspicions of third-party bribery involving Seongnam FC, and allegations of illicit transfers to North Korea involving Ssangbangwool — were consolidated from eight into six. In their place, three cases from the Moon Jae-in administration were added: bribery allegations linked to the employment of former President Moon's son-in-law, suspicions of a leaked THAAD defense secret, and allegations that the economic viability data for Wolseong Nuclear Plant Unit 1 was manipulated.

The bill also struck out a provision granting the special counsel (an independent prosecutor assigned to investigate and indict specific cases) the authority to withdraw indictments already filed. This reflects a request made by President Lee at a press conference on September 18.