South Korea: Rival parties agree to not extend special counsel probes surrounding Yoon

Seoul, Sep 10 Rival political parties of South Korea agreed Wednesday to keep three special counsel investigations into various allegations surrounding former President Yoon Suk Yeol at their current durations, without extending them.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between the ruling Democratic Party (DP) floor leader, Kim

Extending the investigations was part of the DP's proposed revisions to three bills mandating the appointment of special prosecutors to determine the facts related to Yoon's attempt to impose martial law, various corruption allegations targeting his wife, Kim Keon Hee, and his administration's alleged interference in a military probe into a marine's death.

Under the DP proposals, the investigations into the martial law attempt and the former first lady can be extended from a maximum of 150 days to 180 days, while the investigation related to the marine's death can be extended from a maximum of 120 days to 150 days.

During the floor leaders' meeting, however, the rival parties agreed not to extend the durations, while also reaching a compromise on the number of additional personnel each special counsel team can have, a number expected to be capped at 10.

The two sides additionally agreed to allow recorded broadcasts of Yoon's trial on insurrection charges on a conditional basis, instead of making them mandatory.

The amendments to the special counsel bills will be passed during a plenary session on Thursday, Yonhap news agency reported.

In return for the concessions, the PPP said it would "cooperate as much as possible" to create the legal conditions for the establishment of a financial supervisory commission, which was proposed by the Lee Jae Myung administration as part of its government reorganisation plan.

On Monday, South Korea's former President Yoon had filed a constitutional petition over a special probe bill into his insurrection charges, claiming the bill is unconstitutional as he was absent from his insurrection trial for the eighth consecutive session, prompting the court to proceed without him.

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