Rival parties in talks on special counsel bill to probe Yoon's insurrection charges

The ruling and opposition parties are locking horns over the disputed bill to appoint a special counsel to investigate President Yoon's martial law declaration.

This is raising questions about whether a last-minute agreement can be reached before midnight, the deadline set by the opposition.

Our political correspondent Shin Ha-young is on the line with the latest.

Ha-young, how are the talks unfolding?

Jung-min, the rival political parties have yet to reach a final agreement.

An official from the National Assembly speaker's office told reporters that agreements had been reached on some issues, but the talks are still ongoing due to major differences.

The official declined to elaborate on these.

Floor leaders of the two parties sat down at the negotiating table Friday afternoon, with the National Assembly speaker presiding, to discuss a bill to launch a special counsel investigation into President Yoon's short-lived imposition of martial law.

This comes after the ruling People Power Party proposed its own version of the bill, while the opposition pushed its already-prepared bill.

On Friday morning, PPP Floor Leader Kweon Seong-dong said there was no need for the bill since most key figures, including President Yoon, have already been arrested or indicted.

He explained that the party proposed its own version of the special counsel bill as it was compelled to choose the worse option over the worst one. Take a listen.

"This special counsel is pointless and serves no purpose. I urge the DP to withdraw the special counsel bill."

Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Chan-dae said the bill was needed to hold people accountable for a serious crime against democracy and the constitutional order.

The DP has set the deadline for negotiations of midnight, Friday.

If no agreement is reached, it plans to hold a vote on its prepared special prosecutor bill. Take a listen

"I urge the PPP not to betray the people and to engage in negotiations sincerely."

Then Ha-young, how are the bills from each side different?

The primary focus of the opposition's bill, proposed earlier this month, is to uncover whether President Yoon unlawfully instigated an insurrection, and violated the Constitution in the process.

The PPP's version, however, removes the allegations of "insurrection" and also that of "the inducement of foreign aggression."

It aims to look into five specific allegations overall, in comparison to the 11 presented by the opposition.

The PPP's bill also shortens the investigation period to a maximum of 110 days, compared to the DP's 150.

As for the size of the investigation team, the PPP is pushing for a team of 58, while the DP is aiming for 155.

Meanwhile, ahead of the talks, Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik urged both parties to complete the negotiations by Friday and do their best to pass the agreed bill.

"If we can't reach an agreement easily, we'll do our best, even if it takes working until midnight."

While all eyes are on whether they can reach an agreement by the deadline, the DP is expected to pass its own bill if the talks fail.

That's all I have for now, Jung-min.

All right Ha-young thank you for the latest.