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Assembly passes special counsel bill to probe influence-peddling by shadowy 'power broker'

Published: 27 Feb. 2025, 18:33

MICHAEL LEE
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A bill to establish a special counsel probe into self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun passes in a 182-91 vote at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Feb. 27. [YONHAP]

The National Assembly passed a bill on Thursday to establish a special counsel probe into alleged influence-peddling by self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun.

The bill, which was spearheaded by the liberal Democratic Party (DP), was supported by 182 lawmakers and opposed by 91. One vote was counted as invalid.

Rep. Kim Sang-wook was the only lawmaker from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) who voted in support of the bill, defying his party’s official stance against the probe.

Myung is accused of soliciting impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s support for former PPP lawmaker Kim Young-sun’s nomination as the party’s candidate in the June 2022 by-election to fill the Changwon Uichang parliamentary constituency.

Prosecutors suspect that the president backed Kim in return for the free opinion surveys Myung allegedly conducted on Yoon’s behalf during his successful election campaign earlier that year.

Kim won the by-election after being nominated by the PPP and served a single term as a lawmaker.

Myung is also accused of receiving approximately 80.7 million won ($55,890) from Kim after the election in exchange for his lobbying of the president on her behalf.

Prosecutors indicted Myung and Kim in early December last year on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, which forbids using money to recommend specific candidates for public office.

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee are also accused of meddling in the PPP’s candidate selection process ahead of last year’s general election at Myung’s behest.

In recordings of Myung’s phone calls obtained by the prosecution, the president can be heard saying he will “speak once more to Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun,” who was then serving as the chief of the PPP’s candidate nomination committee.

In a meeting of DP lawmakers on Thursday, party floor leader Park Chan-dae argued that the proposed special counsel probe would “serve as the key to uncovering the motives” that drove Yoon to suddenly declare martial law in December last year.

Park called Yoon and Kim’s ties to Myung their “Achilles heel” and claimed that the president “enlisted the military to carry out an insurrection designed at preventing the first couple’s criminal activities from coming to light.”

Park also argued that recordings of Myung’s phone calls show why Rep. Yoon “tried to shield” the president from impeachment, alleging the former PPP chief of nominations abetted the first couple’s suspected interference in the candidate selection process.

A stock photo of former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun, left, and self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun. [YONHAP]

The DP has recently raised more allegations regarding the PPP’s relationship with Myung.

On Monday, DP Rep. Seo Young-kyo released a recording of Myung telling an acquaintance over the phone that he helped current Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo rejoin the PPP by facilitating his meeting with senior party figure Kim Chong-in.

A delegation of nine DP lawmakers led by Seo visited the National Police Agency’s main investigative unit on Thursday to urge it to play a more direct role in investigating Myung.

Seo told officials at the National Office of Investigation that their involvement is necessary because prosecutors “are dragging their feet” over probing the first couple’s alleged ties to the self-proclaimed power broker, echoing the party’s long-running suspicions that the state prosecution service is biased in favor of conservatives.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]