DP Fails to Table Marine Death Special Probe Bill

The main opposition Democratic Party(DP) has failed to table a bill mandating a special counsel probe into the military’s handling of a Marine’s death last year as the parliamentary question-and-answer session collapsed due to clashes between rival parties. 

The parliamentary plenary session for interpellation fell through on Tuesday after DP Rep. Kim Byung-joo denounced PPP lawmakers “out of their minds” for using the term “South Korea-U.S.-Japan alliance” in a party commentary, saying that the nation cannot be an alliance with Japan, which has territorial ambitions for South Korea’s Dokdo islets. 

The PPP strongly protested over the remarks and threatened to file a complaint with the parliamentary ethics committee, demanding an apology from Kim. 

Kim refused to apologize and the plenary session was adjourned after 10 p.m.

The DP had planned to introduce the bill immediately after the end of an interpellation session, and the PPP earlier in the day threatened to launch a filibuster to block the attempt.