Ruling party faces loyalty test in re-vote on special counsel probe bill

Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, third from right, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Lee Hyo-jin

• Published May 22, 2024 3:51 PM KST
• Updated May 23, 2024 10:27 AM KST

The leadership of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) is striving to prevent its members from voting in favor of a special counsel probe bill into the death of a Marine in an upcoming parliamentary re-vote, emphasizing the importance of party unity to thwart the bill's passage.

Following President Yoon Suk Yeol's veto of the opposition-led bill on Tuesday, the National Assembly is expected to hold a re-vote on the bill during a plenary session on May 28. This session would mark the incumbent Assembly's final legislative act before its dissolution the following day.

The bill, pushed through by the majority-holding main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), was initially passed during a plenary session on May 2. The bill aims to launch a comprehensive investigation into the government's alleged interference in the military's probe into the death of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun during a flood rescue operation in July 2023. The DPK seeks to question high-ranking government officials, potentially including the president himself.

The presidential office and the ruling party have vehemently opposed the bill, labeling it as a political maneuver by the opposition bloc targeting the Yoon administration.

"If the DPK pushes ahead with the re-vote, we will act in unity without a single exception and put together our efforts to uphold our party's stance of opposing the bill," PPP floor leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho told reporters on Wednesday, following a party meeting. Choo added that he is reaching out to all party members to deliver the message and has received positive responses from them.

For a vetoed bill to pass the Assembly in a re-vote, it requires a majority of Assembly members to be present and at least two-thirds of those present to vote in favor.

Currently, the DPK holds 155 seats out of the 295-member Assembly. When seats held by other opposition parties are added, this number increases to 180. Thus, at least 17 votes from ruling party lawmakers favoring the bill would ensure its passage.

Three PPP members — Reps. Kim Woong, Ahn Cheol-soo and Yoo Eui-dong — have publicly voiced support for the bill. Notably, Kim was the only ruling party lawmaker to vote in favor of the special counsel bill during a plenary session on May 2, while other PPP members exited the session in protest.

Uncertainty looms over whether PPP members will demonstrate a "one-team" strategy in the upcoming re-vote, particularly since it will be conducted through a secret ballot.

Additionally, it is uncertain whether PPP members who failed to secure seats in the next Assembly will remain loyal to the party. A total of 55 sitting PPP lawmakers have not secured another term during the general elections, either being cut from the party's nomination or having lost their respective contests. Some of them might not even attend the plenary session, which would increase the chance of the bill's passage.

DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung urged PPP members to make the "right decision," saying that the public would not forgive lawmakers who protect the president over the people's will.

"If the PPP continues to shield the president and denies the will of the people, they will be recorded in history as accomplices of a repressive government," Lee said during a party meeting Wednesday.

The DPK, along with other opposition parties, plans to hold a mass rally over the weekend in central Seoul, denouncing the president for wielding his veto power.

Even if the bill fails to pass in the upcoming re-vote, the opposition bloc plans to reintroduce it in the 22nd Assembly, which convenes on June 1. In the next Assembly, the broader opposition bloc will hold 192 out of 300 seats.