The presidential office said Thursday that the special counsel investigations into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee were launched in response to the people's demand.
Kang Yu-jung, Lee's spokesperson, told a press briefing that "getting to the bottom of insurrection is the demand of the people, as the results of the presidential election show."
The opposition People Power Party said that the special counsel investigations were of an "unprecedented size costing billions of won," with a total of 577 prosecutors and investigators.
"The sheer size of the investigations is tantamount to a single district attorney's office," the People Power Party said in a statement Wednesday, saying the Democratic Party of Korea has "created its own district attorney's office."
Tuesday's Cabinet meeting approved the ruling Democratic Party-led bills for opening special counsel investigations into the former first couple, with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik asking President Lee Jae-myung to appoint special counsels to lead the investigations.
The special counsels would look into allegations that Yoon committed either insurrection or treason by trying to impose martial law on Dec. 3.
They would also scrutinize allegations that Yoon's wife Kim, meddled in the People Power Party's nomination process for a National Assembly seat in the 2022 by-election.
arin@heraldcorp.com
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