April 26, 2024

• 

[THE INVESTOR] Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Feb. 27 that he would not extend the outgoing special investigation into President Park Geun-hye.

Opposition parties, which have been striving to extend the investigation until after the court’s impeachment ruling, vowed to have Hwang impeached as well, defining him as an “accomplice” to the suspended president’s wrongdoings.

“After long consideration on the given request, (acting President Hwang) has decided not to extend the mandate for the independent counsel investigation,” Hong Kwon-hee, public affairs chief of the prime minister’s office, said at a news conference.

The announcement came shortly after the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho told the press that he had received such notice from the acting president’s office.

It also came just a day before the team led by Independent Counsel Park Young-soo is to close down its 70-day investigation and hand the results over to state prosecutors.

Under the Independent Counsel Act, the special team is to last for 70 days and may be extended by an extra month upon the approval of the president, or the acting president, in this case.

As reasons not to extend the investigation, Hwang cited the achievements so far made by the special prosecutors, claiming that the independent counsel team had already “accomplished its purpose.”

“The special investigation team has indicted or sufficiently investigated (presidential confidante) Choi Soon-sil and other key suspects as defined by the related law,” Hong said.

Issues requiring further investigation are to be handed over to state prosecutors or, if necessary, to a new separate independent counsel, he added.

“It is regretful that the acting President Hwang did not agree to extend the investigation while several issues yet remain unsolved,” said Lee Kyu-chul, spokesperson for the independent counsel team.

Investigators earlier pledged to summon President Park for a face-to-face questioning and to raid the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, neither of which succeeded.

The four opposition parties -- the Democratic Party, People’s Party, Justice Party and the Bareun Party -- immediately filed complaints against Hwang’s largely anticipated decision, and agreed to pass a new independent counsel bill.

Of them, the three more progressive parties -- excluding the Bareun Party, which split out from the ruling Liberty Korea Party -- even vowed to have acting President Hwang impeached.

The opposition had earlier sought to pass a revision bill of the independent counsel act, so as to prolong the investigation mandate without the acting president’s approval. The effort, however, was thwarted due to the ruling conservative Liberty Korea Party’s dissent.

“As acting president, Hwang was under a legal obligation to approve (the probe extension) but he disallowed it, as if he had the discretion,” said Rep. Woo.

“This was an abuse of authority as well as a violation of the law, which requires the National Assembly to take due measures.”

The opposition shall hold the prime minister responsible for his “wrong decision,” he also added.

The party’s chief Rep. Choo Mi-ae also gestured that she would support to Hwang’s impeachment.

“Why should (Hwang’s impeachment) be difficult? It’s not as if he stands above the Constitution,” she told reporters earlier.

The main opposition party had previously withheld its stance on the impeachment plan, but soon decided to work with the People’s Party and Justice Party.

“Our party decided to motion an impeachment bill on Hwang, but this may only be possible with the participation of the Democratic Party,” Rep. Joo Seung-yong of the People’s Party said in a party meeting.

The ruling Liberty Korea Party, the party of suspended President Park, advocated Hwang’s anticipated decision to close the investigation.

“The independent counsel investigation, though it does have some loose ends, may not go on forever,” said party spokesperson Rep. Kim Sung-won.

“The opposition should humbly accept the results and refrain from using (the investigation extension issue) for their own political interests.”

The acting president is currently seen as the most likely presidential candidate for the ruling party, though he is yet to make an official bid. Should the Constitutional Court uphold Park’s impeachment in the second week of March, as planned, an earlier-than-planned presidential election is to be held within 60 days.

Hwang’s refusal to prolong the investigation against Park -- a decision obviously favorable for the feud-ridden president and her home party -- was thus taken as a sign that he shall step in the race as the ruling party’s runner.

His approval rating as of the fourth week of February, according to pollster Realmeter, stood at 10.9 percent, down 3.9 percentage points from the previous week.

By Bae Hyun-jung/The Korea Herald (tellme@heraldcorp.com)