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PPP criticizes DP special counsel bill over indictment-canceling powers

Published: 01 May. 2026, 15:50

MICHAEL LEE
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Acting Democratic Party floor leader Cheong Jun-ho, center, and other lawmakers submit a bill to appoint a special counsel to investigate allegations that former President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration launched politically motivated criminal probes against his opponents on April 30 at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

A bill by the ruling Democratic Party (DP) that would empower a special counsel to cancel ongoing criminal investigations has attracted fierce criticism from main opposition People Power Party (PPP) politicians, who argue it could be used to nullify pending cases involving President Lee Jae Myung.

The bill, which was submitted by DP lawmakers on Thursday, would appoint an independent counsel to investigate allegations that prosecutors under former President Yoon Suk Yeol brought politically motivated indictments against Lee.

It would also grant the special counsel the authority to determine whether to continue prosecuting or drop cases in which Lee is a defendant.

If passed, the special counsel’s mandate would extend beyond seven high-profile cases already examined in a parliamentary probe to encompass all criminal cases involving Lee.

Before being elected president, Lee was accused of committing breach of trust in the Daejang-dong and Wirye development projects, which took off when he was governor of Gyeonggi. He was also accused of being behind the illegal transfer of funds to North Korea, for which his vice governor, Lee Hwa-young, was convicted.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is running for re-election as a candidate with the PPP, accused Lee and the DP of “rushing headlong toward dictatorial power” in a Facebook post on Friday.

He argued that relieving prosecutors of ongoing cases and empowering a special counsel to cancel indictments would be “worse than a criminal bribing a prosecutor to drop charges.”

“If he is confident in his innocence, the president should stand trial,” Oh added.

Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, who is running for a third term as a PPP candidate, issued a similarly stark warning.

“Granting a special counsel the power to cancel indictments in the president’s own cases amounts to a declaration that the president stands above the law,” he said, adding that such a move could not escape “the judgment of history.”

Choo Kyung-ho, the PPP mayoral candidate in Daegu, called the bill “a self-pardon in disguise” in a radio interview and questioned whether the public would accept such an arrangement.

From left: Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon and Daegu mayoral candidate Choo Kyung-ho. All three are candidates with the opposition People Power Party in the upcoming June 3 local elections. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

PPP floor leader Song Eon-seog vowed to use all means at his party’s disposal to block the bill.

“This bill is clearly intended to cancel the president’s trials under the guise of uncovering the truth,” said Song, who pledged to mount a filibuster or a “nationwide resistance campaign” if necessary.

Among legal experts, the most contentious provision in the bill is the clause allowing the special counsel to decide whether to maintain indictments in cases that have already gone to trial.

Jang Young-soo, a professor of constitutional law at Korea University, said it would be difficult to find a precedent for such an arrangement.

“A special counsel so explicitly designed to resolve a president’s legal risks is unprecedented,” he said. “It constitutes a clear conflict of interest and runs counter to the constitutional principle of the rule of law.”

Lee Chang-hyun, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, further argued that allowing a special counsel to withdraw indictments in cases it did not bring before the courts would conflict with established judicial procedures.

“It is inappropriate [for the special counsel] to halt prosecution in a case where they did not bring forth the indictment,” he said, noting that even in instances where courts have compelled prosecutors to bring charges, those prosecutors are barred from later withdrawing them.

Current prosecutors who spoke on condition of anonymity to the JoongAng Ilbo said the bill grants far more sweeping authority to the special counsel than prosecutors currently have when faced with the choice to appeal a decision.

“When prosecutors decline to appeal, they essentially accept a court’s judgment,” said one senior prosecutor in the Seoul metropolitan area. “Canceling an indictment blocks the court from ruling in the first place. They are fundamentally different powers.”

The bill has also drawn scrutiny over how the special counsel would be appointed.

Under the proposal, political parties would have three days to recommend candidates, and the president would have another three days to make an appointment. Failure to meet those deadlines would be deemed a waiver of the respective authority.

Han Sang-hoon, a professor of criminal law at Yonsei University, said this timeline was “exceptionally tight,” raising concerns that the process would be reduced to a formality.

“It appears to preserve a formal procedure, but in reality it risks stripping the opposition of its right to weigh in on the recommendation process,” he said.

Some legal experts also warned that any attempt to cancel indictments without a sufficient legal basis could expose the special counsel and prosecutors involved to criminal liability under recently introduced statutes penalizing abuse of prosecutorial authority.

“If the special counsel improperly withdraws an indictment, they could also face charges of abusing their powers,” said Lee Chang-hyun.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SON KOOK-HEE, SUK GYEONG-MIN, MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]