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Democratic Party floor leader Kim Byung-gi (left) and People Power Party floor leader Song Eon-seok shake hands before their meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on September 10. / Source: Lee Byung-hwa

The ruling People Power Party said Tuesday it agreed at a floor leaders’ meeting to cooperate to the fullest on legislating and revising a bill to establish a Financial Supervisory Commission. The Democratic Party of Korea, in turn, accepted the PPP’s request to amend the three special counsel bills (insurrection, first lady Kim Keon-hee, and Pvt. Chae) to include a clause that bars any “additional extensions.” The revised package is slated for passage at the National Assembly’s plenary session on Wednesday.

After the talks, Yoo Sang-bum, the PPP’s senior deputy floor leader, told reporters his party had pointed out that allowing a special counsel to direct investigations into cases already being tried by military or civilian prosecutors “does not fit our criminal justice system and runs counter to the intent” of such laws. “The Democratic Party has decided to accept most of these points,” he said.

Moon Jin-seok, the DPK’s chief deputy for floor operations, said, “The special counsel bills will be handled as scheduled tomorrow, and we will incorporate the opposition’s demands into the revised text and pass it.”

A previously planned filibuster now appears unlikely. “Given we have a revised draft, we judged that mounting a separate filibuster solely against the amendment—expanding the special counsel law in a way with little precedent—would be inappropriate,” Yoo said, adding that lawmakers may still voice objections in the form of opposition speeches.