Nov. 11 Legislative Report: Kim Bo-hyeop Juggles Kim Keon-hee Special Counsel Bill at Budget Committee
Rep. Kim Bo-hyeop of the Rebuilding Korea Party (pen name Hosan), a member of the 22nd National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, is taking direct part in the handling of the Kim Keon-hee Special Counsel Act, tackling fiscal review and politically charged legislation chapter by chapter.
Legislative Activity Expanding In and Around the Budget Committee
According to the National Assembly's open information system (open.assembly.go.kr), Rep. Kim was assigned to the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts and the Education Committee in the 22nd National Assembly. The budget committee is a core, standing-committee-level body that reviews the government's budget bill and final accounts, with hundreds of trillions of won in annual government spending finalized through its hands. Fellow party members Hong Beom-sik and Song Seong-mun, as well as People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-il, also serve on both the budget and education committees, creating an overlapping track for bipartisan consultations on budget and education finance.
Rep. Kim's activities do not stop at fiscal review. As a member of the Rebuilding Korea Party, he contributes to the party's policy formulation and took part, in the party's name, in the process of handling the Kim Keon-hee Special Counsel Act. He was also listed as a co-sponsor of the re-proposed Special Counsel Act on the case of Private First Class Chae. In other words, while building fiscal expertise, he also stands on the front line of the political legislation the party prioritizes.
Renewed Push for Special Counsel Bills and a Minor Party's Strategy
In the 22nd National Assembly, the Rebuilding Korea Party successively re-proposed the Kim Keon-hee Special Counsel Act and the Special Counsel Act on the Private Chae case. Fellow members including Rep. Song Seong-mun joined the re-proposal of the Kim Keon-hee bill, while Rep. Jeong Jin-ae participated in bills on prosecutorial reform and judicial system improvement, and Rep. Lim Byung-goo in bills to prevent prosecutorial abuse and restructure investigative authority — forming a multi-layered, party-wide portfolio of prosecutorial and judicial reform.
Such intensive bill sponsorship is read as a means for a minor party outside the main negotiation blocs to secure agenda-setting power over key national issues. Since the special counsel act cannot be passed alone, it must clear three hurdles: alliance with the ruling Democratic Party, and a revote after a presidential veto request. Rep. Kim holding the negotiating card of budget review at the budget committee could function as political leverage over the party's core bills, including the special counsel act.
Floor Defections Reveal the Legislative Landscape
The floor vote results of October 1, 2026, show the shifting alliances across the National Assembly. On the amendment to the Rural Development Special Accounts Act, the Democratic Party recorded 86 votes for and 16 against, with 16 members — including Reps. Kim Jung-ho, Moon Dae-rim, Park Jeong-hyun, Kim Young-hwan, Park Ji-won, Jung Chung-rae, Lee Ki-heon and Jin Sung-joon — breaking party lines. The People Power Party effectively maintained its party position of opposition on the same bill, with 40 against and 4 in favor.
On the alternative Emergency Medical Services Act bill, the People Power Party split internally, with 14 for and 10 against. Reps. Lee Jin-sook, Kim Min-jeon and Choi Soo-jin also defected in small numbers on the Broadcasting Act amendment, as did Reps. Han Ki-ho, Song Eon-seok and Lee Jin-sook on the alternative Eco-friendly Agriculture and Fisheries Promotion Act bill. This means that, across party lines, district and industry interests increasingly take precedence over party discipline.
Outlook: Fiscal Review as a Variable That Could Decide the Special Counsel Act's Fate
As review of next year's budget bill gets into full swing, the bargaining power of minor-party members on the budget committee is bound to grow. In the 2026 final accounts review Rep. Kim participates in and subsequent budget deliberations, the Rebuilding Korea Party may make passage of the special counsel act a condition in negotiations. However, the special counsel act tends to be delayed the more confrontational the interparty standoff becomes, so whether fiscal negotiations and political legislation actually translate into votes depends on the ruling party's strategic judgment. Given the recent pattern of repeated floor defections, watching the scale of defections on each individual bill will be a practical barometer for reading the National Assembly's landscape.
