In revised bill, DP accuses president of inciting military attack from North Korea

Yoon supporters protesting his impeachment rally outside the presidential residence in Yongsan, central Seoul, Thursday. (Yonhap)
Yoon supporters protesting his impeachment rally outside the presidential residence in Yongsan, central Seoul, Thursday. (Yonhap)

The Democratic Party of Korea and five minor parties on Thursday resubmitted a bill to initiate a special counsel investigation of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.

Thursday’s version of the bill changed how the special counsel tasked with investigating Yoon would be picked, to solicit support from the ruling People Power Party. It also included fresh allegations that the president tried to provoke military attacks from North Korea in the build-up to his martial law declaration.

Democratic Party Rep. Kim Yong-min, who authored the bill, told reporters that the Supreme Court chief justice would choose the special counsel candidates instead of the Democratic Party, as it had been in the initial bill.

Kim said the revised bill also removed the parts allowing the special counsel to disclose findings pertaining to military secrets during or at the end of the investigation of the president.

“I would say that the reasons the ruling party has been citing for opposing the bill have been addressed in the new bill,” he said.

The opposition's push to kick off a special counsel bill is motivated by the police and Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials' failure to execute an arrest warrant for Yoon last week.

If the bill passes and acting President Choi Sang-mok appoints a special counsel, Yoon would face another investigation into his bid to declare martial law, which was quickly overturned in a National Assembly vote.

So far the investigation into Yoon has been handled by the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. The special counsel appointed by the acting president has the authority to request the case be transferred from other investigative bodies.

The People Power Party has opposed the bill over the parts allowing the Democratic Party to choose the special counsel without bipartisan consent and letting the special counsel reveal to the public findings or suspicions related to military secrets.

The Democratic Party said the bill is slated to be put to vote again at an Assembly plenary session next week.

The new bill also includes the allegations that Yoon intentionally sought to stage a military conflict with North Korea in the months leading to his declaration of martial law.

The Democratic Party argued this would amount to inducement of foreign aggression, which is when a person conspires with a foreign state to incite armed hostilities against South Korea, according to the Criminal Code. The sentence for those convicted of such crimes is the death penalty or lifetime imprisonment.

Democratic Party spokesperson Rep. Kang Yu-jung told reporters that adding the allegations of Yoon triggering an armed response from North Korea in the new bill was intended to “let the South Korean people know that the country was under such a dire crisis.”

The Democratic Party claims that Yoon’s Office of National Security sent drones to Pyongyang last October in a supposed bid to stir up what the party called “a red scare” -- to which the presidential office responded by filing a criminal complaint against the party’s 13 lawmakers.

The Seoul government and military have so far declined to respond to North Korea's claims that the drones found in Pyongyang were South Korean.

The passage of the new bill appears uncertain, however.

The People Power Party protested the bill saying it included a lot of allegations that seemed to have little or no basis in fact, such as that Yoon orchestrated a drone infiltration into North Korea.

Under the bill, investigators would have unlimited access to search confidential military sites, posing possible security risks.

The bill was also submitted without a review by the Assembly judiciary committee, violating due process, the ruling party pointed out.