{
  "id": 19112632,
  "title": "[COVER STORY] Special counsel bill deepens partisan rift over impact on Lee's suspended trials",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/cover-story-special-counsel-bill-deepens-partisan-rift-over-impact-on",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-09T07:32:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/politics/20261109/cover-story-special-counsel-bill-deepens-partisan-rift-over-impact-on-lees-suspended-trials"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new special counsel bill has sparked a fierce partisan debate over its potential implications for criminal cases involving President Lee Jae Myung. The ruling coalition argues that the measure is essential to address what they claim are politically motivated indictments against Lee and other members of the liberal party, which were based on fabricated evidence and false testimonies by prosecutors during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. Conversely, opposition parties accuse President Lee of abusing his power to evade criminal charges and are pushing for his impeachment.\n\nThe tension escalated on Monday when Justice Minister nominee Lee Yong-cheol stated that he would address calls to drop charges against President Lee in a manner \"in accordance with the law and principles.\" This position contrasts with that of his predecessor, Jung Sung-ho, who maintained that only the prosecution, not the minister, has the authority to decide whether to nullify indictments against the president.\n\nLee Yong-cheol, a longtime ally of President Lee, was nominated on Friday, leading the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to question whether his selection was intended to facilitate the special counsel probe.",
  "summary": "A special counsel bill aimed at uncovering alleged politically motivated investigations under former President Yoon Suk Yeol is deepening a partisan divide over its potential to influence criminal cases against President Lee Jae Myung. The ruling bloc claims the special counsel probe is necessary because Lee and other liberal party leaders were unfairly indicted with fabricated evidence and false…",
  "key_points": [
    "New special counsel bill deepens partisan rift over impact on Lee's suspended trials.",
    "Ruling coalition argues bill essential to address politically motivated indictments.",
    "Opposition accuses President Lee of abusing power to evade criminal charges."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The proposed special counsel legislation intensifies the political struggle over judicial independence as both ruling and opposition parties weaponize criminal proceedings to either protect or impeach the president.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yonhap News",
        "title": "Special counsel raids ballot counting machine companies over suspected collusion",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/special-counsel-raids-ballot-counting-machine-companies-over",
        "published": "2026-11-09T06:23:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}