SEOUL, The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) failed Tuesday to table a contentious bill mandating a special counsel investigation into the military’s response to a Marine’s death last year.
The DP had planned to introduce the bill immediately after the end of an interpellation session, but the session was adjourned about two hours after it began due to sparring between rival party lawmakers and failed to resume.
The special probe bill calls for a special counsel to look into allegations that the presidential office and the defense ministry inappropriately interfered in the Marines’ investigation into the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, killed during a search mission for victims of heavy downpours in July 2023.
The DP-led bill had initially passed through the previous assembly but was voted down in a revote after President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoed it. The DP proposed it again after the new National Assembly came into office in late May.
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) has been adamantly against the bill,
and threatened earlier in the day to launch a filibuster should the DP push to pass it.
During the interpellation session, however, DP Rep. Kim Byung-joo called PPP lawmakers “out of their minds” for allegedly using the term “South Korea-U.S.-Japan alliance” in a party commentary, prompting strong protests from the PPP lawmakers over his language.
South Korea is allies with the United States, but the notion of an alliance involving Japan would be a highly sensitive matter due to public resentment of Tokyo’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
The row forced the session’s suspension, with the PPP demanding an apology from Kim and Kim reportedly refusing.
The DP is expected to table the special probe bill Wednesday following another interpellation session, though the PPP could respond with a filibuster, which could then disrupt Thursday’s interpellation session.
A filibuster involves lawmakers holding the floor for extended periods as a way to prevent a parliamentary vote or delay the passage of
a bill.
Source: Yonhap News Agency