On November 4, independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo (51) suggested appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations of illegal involvement in the presidential election by state agencies including the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Ahn held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly this day and suggested appointing a special prosecutor saying, "The government has only recently announced its position on a thorough investigation followed by disciplinary measures, but it's too late for that. The government's plans do not fit the current situation and are not enough to resolve the thorny situation between the ruling and opposition politicians." This is the first time Ahn has held a press conference at the National Assembly since he entered parliament through a by-election in the Nowon 3 constituency in Seoul on April 24.

Ahn said, "Although allegations are spreading to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and the military's Cyber Warfare Command as well as the NIS, and suspicions of a connection among the agencies are being raised, we cannot properly identify the truth with the current investigation--the prosecutors investigating on one side, and the military investigating on another. Only an integrated investigation by a special prosecutor can fully uncover the truth." He added, "From the beginning of the investigation, the justice ministry collided with the Prosecutors' Office, and excluding Yoon Seok-yeol from the investigation is obviously an attempt to limit the investigation. I find myself questioning whether the government is truly determined to identify the truth."

Ahn continued, "How much longer do we need to engage in consuming battles and confrontation because of this matter?" and suggested ending the political battle by saying, "Let's leave the issues connected to the last presidential election in the hands of the special prosecutor and allow politics to focus on the pile of state tasks and 'life politics'." Ahn will soon submit a request for a special prosecutor and embark on persuading the ruling and opposition politicians.

In response to Ahn's announcement, Saenuri spokesperson Yoo Il-ho said, "It is not appropriate to mention a special prosecutor when the investigations are ongoing. We can wait for the results of the prosecutors' investigation, and when we deem it insufficient, we can discuss the special prosecutor then. It won't be too late."

The opposition showed a slight difference in their response. Kim Kwan-young, the senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party was cautious and said, "We should decide on appointing a special prosecutor after comprehensively considering the progress in the prosecutors' investigation and trial, along with the progress in the investigation on the alleged intervention in the presidential election by other state agencies." Lee Jung-mi, spokesperson for the Justice Party said, "Lawmaker Ahn, the Democratic Party, and the Justice Party should jointly discuss a single bill for NIS reforms, which we had planned to promote as soon as the parliamentary inspections ended."