South Korean parties agree on election management investigation
· UPIJuly 21 (Asia Today) -- South Korea's governing and opposition parties agreed Tuesday to appoint an independent special counsel to investigate ballot shortages and other alleged election management failures during the June 3 local elections.
Han Byung-do, acting leader and floor leader of the governing Democratic Party, announced the agreement following a meeting between senior officials from the two parties.
The proposed legislation will be titled the Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor to Investigate the Ballot Shortage and Other Election Management Failures During the Ninth Nationwide Local Elections.
The Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party agreed to establish a public recommendation committee within the National Assembly to help select the special counsel.
Each parliamentary negotiating group will recommend three members, creating a six-member committee.
The committee will receive three prospective special counsel candidates recommended by the Korean Bar Association and the Korean Association of Law Schools.
The governing and opposition parties will then jointly select two of the candidates and submit their names to the president.
The president will appoint one of the two as special counsel.
The parties plan to pass the legislation during the National Assembly's July extraordinary session.
"The scope, size and duration of the investigation will be discussed later, but the legislation will be processed through an agreement between the governing and opposition parties," Han said.
The agreement follows controversy over reported shortages of ballots and other administrative problems during the June 3 elections.
The parties have not yet agreed on the precise subjects to be investigated, the size of the special counsel team or how long the investigation will last.
Han is serving as the Democratic Party's acting leader and floor leader during the party's leadership transition.
-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260721010007408