드루킹 특검•추경, 국회 본회의 통과

Some positive news coming out of parliament today --
The National Assembly passed two highly contested bills -- the extra budget... and a bill that calls for a special probe into an online opinion rigging scandal.
It's long overdue... as the rival parties had been at odds over the specifics of the bills.
Here's Kim Min-ji with the details.
The National Assembly on Monday gave the greenlight to the government's extra budget proposal... as well as a bill that calls for a special probe into an online opinion rigging scandal.
The voting was initially supposed to take place during a plenary session last Friday,... but was delayed as rival parties were at loggerheads over the specifics of the extra budget bill.
The parties had agreed to vote on both issues simultaneously -- the ruling party okaying the special probe bill.... in exchange for the opposition passing the extra budget proposal-- as part of a deal to end the 42-day standstill at parliament.
The revised extra budget bill -- which will mainly be used to tackle the dire job market -- is roughly 20 million U.S. dollars less than the initial government proposal of 3-point-6 billion dollars... -- after some areas were cut, and others expanded.
The passage comes 45 days after the government submitted its proposal in early April,... and is the second supplementary budget under the Moon Jae-in administration.

As for the special probe -- there'll be a preparation period of 20 days... while the actual investigation itself will last for 60 days,... with a possible one-time extension of 30 days.
The Korean Bar Association will recommend four special prosecutor candidates -- of which the opposition bloc will select two -- while the final pick will be made by the president.
On the team will be also be three assistant independent counsels, 13 prosecutors and 35 inspectors.
The probe revolves around a blogger,... known better as "Druking" -- who reportedly used a computer program to manipulate internet comments on political news articles... with growing speculation the blogger may also have been engaged in rigging activities in the run up to last year's presidential election.
Druking is also known to have ties with Kim Kyoung-soo -- a former ruling party lawmaker and a close friend of President Moon Jae-in,... and there are reports that the blogger met with another close aide of the president.

The passing of the bill is expected to somewhat calm a dispute over the rigging scandal that's deepened the divide between the rival parties.
It will be first independent counsel probe under the current government... and the investigation will likely start after the local elections scheduled for June 13th.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.