{"id":23837,"date":"2026-08-01T03:01:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23837"},"modified":"2026-08-01T03:01:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:01:45","slug":"south-korea-opposition-rallies-after-election-probe-bill-passes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23837","title":{"rendered":"South Korea opposition rallies after election probe bill passes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/ph\/st\/th\/1741785534389\/2026\/i\/17855345172349\/v1.5\/South-Korea-opposition-rallies-after-election-probe-bill-passes.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok, center, and opposition lawmakers chant with supporters Thursday at Olympic Park in Seoul. Photo by Asia Today&#13;\n                                            <\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"story_dl\">July 31 (Asia Today) &#8212;<\/span> People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok declared that protesters had won after South Korea&#8217;s National Assembly approved a bill authorizing a special counsel investigation of the National Election Commission.<\/p>\n<p>Jang and 15 lawmakers from the main opposition party joined citizens Thursday night at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul. Participants called for a complete investigation of alleged election-management failures and broader changes to the country&#8217;s voting system.\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The citizens were right. The Olympic Park citizens won,&#8221; Jang told the crowd through a loudspeaker, bowing as he thanked them.<\/p>\n<p>Jang said he had promised protesters Wednesday night that they would celebrate together after the special counsel bill passed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Now I can keep that promise,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation requires the governing and opposition parties to agree on candidates for special counsel. The investigation is expected to examine a shortage of ballots during South Korea&#8217;s June 3 local elections and the National Election Commission&#8217;s handling of the incident.\n<\/p>\n<p>Jang said the party would continue pushing to abolish early voting and overhaul the election commission and the broader electoral system.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What moved the People Power Party was the voice of Olympic Park,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Please gather your strength so that a proper special counsel can be appointed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Jang called on supporters to return to Olympic Park on Aug. 15, South Korea&#8217;s Liberation Day.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Just as your voices on July 17 produced the special counsel bill, the voices of Olympic Park on Aug. 15 will produce the appointment of the special counsel,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters gave Jang flowers after the gathering and shouted words of encouragement. Some lawmakers remained at the park to take photographs with participants.<\/p>\n<p><b>Lawmakers demand changes to early voting<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The gathering included senior People Power Party officials and lawmakers ranging from first-term members to longtime legislators.<\/p>\n<p>Five-term lawmaker Cho Bae-sook said some supporters considered the legislation insufficient but emphasized that its bipartisan nomination process could help produce an independent investigator.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If someone capable of conducting a proper investigation is appointed, this could also lead to discussions about improving the early-voting system,&#8221; Cho said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Elections are called the flower of democracy,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The bill passed because you fought so hard. This is our victory, and we will continue fighting in the National Assembly.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>Lawmaker Park Chung-kwon described the occasion as a celebration. He said legislators attended the gathering even as the party prepared to continue a filibuster opposing separate legislation that would eliminate prosecutors&#8217; authority to conduct supplementary investigations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We came here to share this joy with you and to pledge that we will fight with even greater determination,&#8221; Park said.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmaker Lee Jin-sook credited the Olympic Park protesters with pressuring lawmakers to approve the investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Lee also sharply criticized President Lee Jae-myung&#8217;s administration, claiming that its management of politics, the economy, foreign affairs and national security had failed.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmaker Kim Jang-kyum said the party would work to ensure that the special counsel investigation proceeded without obstruction.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Young people at Olympic Park give us confidence in the country&#8217;s future,&#8221; Kim said.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmaker Kim Tae-kyu, who was preparing to participate in the filibuster, said the legislation could not have passed through the efforts of People Power Party lawmakers alone.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The special counsel investigation will now begin,&#8221; Kim said. &#8220;You must continue applying pressure until the end so that the special counsel cannot pursue a different agenda and so that voting rights are protected.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Four-term lawmaker Park Dae-chul said the investigation would effectively be led by the opposition despite the joint nomination process.\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We will work to make it a special counsel investigation that produces the results sought by the Olympic Park citizens and the public,&#8221; Park said.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmaker Joo Jin-woo, wearing a sash reading &#8220;Who stole my vote?&#8221; called for a broad review of South Korea&#8217;s election system.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The fight begins now,&#8221; Joo said. &#8220;We must thoroughly examine the election system and the National Election Commission and redesign them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Joo said investigators should examine not only the June local elections but also previous presidential and parliamentary elections if evidence of wrongdoing emerged.<\/p>\n<p>No verified evidence establishing widespread fraud in those elections was presented at the gathering.<\/p>\n<p>People Power Party Supreme Council member Kim Min-soo called the bill the first major result in a decade achieved through cooperation between the conservative party and its supporters.<\/p>\n<p>When some participants interrupted speakers with competing chants, Kim urged the crowd to remain united despite internal differences.<\/p>\n<p>People Power Party Secretary-General Chung Hee-yong said the opposition&#8217;s limited number of parliamentary seats made public support essential.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The National Assembly ultimately operates according to the number of seats,&#8221; Chung said. &#8220;The public must make up for the seats we lack.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He rejected descriptions of the protesters as extremists, calling them citizens concerned about South Korea&#8217;s future.\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We will continue conveying their voices under Jang&#8217;s leadership,&#8221; Chung said.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8212; Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a9 Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Original Korean report: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260731010011556\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260731010011556<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok, center, and opposition lawmakers chant with supporters Thursday at Olympic Park in Seoul. Photo by Asia Today&#13; July 31 (Asia Today) &#8212; People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok declared that protesters had won after South Korea&#8217;s National Assembly approved a bill authorizing a special counsel investigation of the National&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/sv\/ph\/og\/i\/1741785534389\/2026\/1\/17855345172349\/v1.5\/South-Korea-opposition-rallies-after-election-probe-bill-passes.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}