Seoul, Jan 18 South Korean National Assembly has passed a revised bill proposed by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on launching a special counsel probe into impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid.
The revised bill was approved in a 188-86 vote during a parliamentary plenary session Friday, with ruling People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers voting against it en masse. The opposition bloc currently dominates the 300-member parliament with 192 seats, Yonhap news agency reported.
The opposition-proposed bill excludes allegations that Yoon committed "treason" by attempting to deliberately provoke war with North Korea from the original proposed by the DP and five other parties.
The PPP has argued that the scope of the bill is excessive and decided to introduce its own bill that excludes such allegations.
The move came after DP floor leader Park Chan-dae and his PPP counterpart, Kweon Seong-dong, failed to reach a compromise in talks presided over by National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik.
Park said the DP has decided to unilaterally table the revised bill, stressing the party has made "major compromises" on the scope of the special counsel probe bill.
After the bill's passage, PPP floor leader Kweon called on acting President Choi Sang-mok to immediately demand the parliament reconsider it.
Earlier, South Korean ruling PPP and the main opposition DP on Friday discussed their respective bills on launching a special counsel probe into impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid, but little progress was made in reaching a compromise.
PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong and his DP counterpart, Park Chan-dae, attended the meeting, presided over by National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik.
All eyes were on whether the two rival parties can narrow their differences and agree on a single bill before the parliamentary plenary session concludes.
"As of now, negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties fell through," Park told reporters at 8:30 p.m., adding both sides have no plans to meet again on Friday.
Park said the party plans to vote for the bill despite little progress in negotiations, hinting that the DP would unilaterally put up an opposition-proposed bill for a vote.
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