PPP Lawmakers Boycott Budget Review in Protest of Special Prosecutor Bill on Investigative Misconduct

Budget review at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee has been sent back to square one. PPP lawmakers on the committee declared on the 9th that they would boycott the entire budget review process, starting with the budget and accounts review subcommittee. The move is a protest against the "Special Prosecutor Act on Uncovering the Truth Behind Fabricated Investigations and Indictments," which passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 6th, led by the Democratic Party. While interparty conflict threatens to create a legislative vacuum, disputes over the bill itself are also spreading to the constitutional level.

Reconsideration Demand and Cabinet Deliberation Plans

Regardless of the news that the Seoul Unified Special Prosecution Team had sought a five-year prison sentence for former Fire Agency chief Huh Seok-gon, the PPP, following a plan to systematically target the special prosecutor bill, held an on-site supreme council meeting and a relay of one-person protests in front of the Blue House. The opposition party aims to challenge both the bill's potential unconstitutionality and President Lee Jae-myung's act of promulgating it itself. With some even raising talk of presidential impeachment, the level of resistance is escalating.

The Blue House, however, has reportedly reached an internal conclusion that the bill carries no constitutional problems. Even amid constitutional controversy within the ruling camp itself, the government plans to submit the promulgation bill for approval at the Cabinet meeting scheduled as early as the 17th. According to the Blue House, the bill was originally slated for the Cabinet meeting on the 10th but has been postponed by about a week. The special prosecutor's operation is estimated to require up to 38 billion won in funding.

The Bill's Core Provisions and Political Stakes

The special prosecutor bill on fabricated indictments calls for appointing a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in investigations and indictments. Given the broad scope of eligible cases and the special prosecutor's investigative powers, the ruling party argues it completes the response to past suspicions of prosecutorial misconduct. The PPP, on the other hand, has gone so far as to call it a "law to spring Lee Jae-myung from jail," criticizing it as legislation designed to create a favorable environment for a specific individual's trial.

Societal interests are also complicated. On the 9th, the family of Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official shot dead by North Korean soldiers in the West Sea in 2020, demanded that the special prosecutor bill be scrapped and that the truth of the alleged "fabricated defection" be investigated separately. The family believes the bill could be exploited politically for probing specific cases. Even within the same "prosecutorial misconduct" debate, positions diverge case by case.

National Assembly Holds Livelihood Budget Hostage

The direct cost of the boycott falls on the budget review schedule. If the boycott of the judiciary committee's budget subcommittee spreads to other standing committees, the entire timeline for processing next year's budget could be delayed. The Democratic Party countered that the opposition is "holding the livelihood budget hostage over the special prosecutor bill." As the opposition wages its fight through a review boycott over an already-passed bill, this conflict is likely to become a wildcard in year-end budget negotiations.

Upcoming Schedule and Outlook

The near-term focus is the Cabinet meeting around the 17th. If the government approves the promulgation, the bill takes immediate effect and the process of recommending special prosecutor candidates begins. The key question is whether the PPP will escalate its reconsideration demand or constitutional concerns into formal legal procedures, or bundle them with budget negotiations in search of compromise.

As long as the Blue House has concluded there are no legal flaws despite the constitutional controversy, promulgation is likely to proceed. However, if the opposition's budget review boycott drags on, securing the 38 billion won needed for the special prosecutor's operation could itself become an obstacle. With the special probe's starting line hinging not on promulgation but on securing funding, the National Assembly's budget review chamber is expected to become the real final battleground of the standoff between the ruling and opposition parties.