Feb. 1 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Democratic Party said Saturday it will push to pass a special bill aimed at boosting investment in the United States by late February or early March as it faces renewed U.S. tariff pressure.

Han Jeong-ae, the party’s policy chief, told reporters at the National Assembly that the “Special Act on Investment in the United States” would be taken up once it is submitted to the relevant standing committee and sent to a subcommittee.

“We will strive to process it from late February to early March,” Han said.

Han criticized what she described as U.S. tariff pressure tied to delays in the bill’s passage, saying legislative procedures must be respected.

“The U.S. also agreed in the Korea-U.S. Joint Fact Sheet that legislative procedures must be followed,” she said, adding that threats to raise tariffs risk “provoking unnecessary conflict.”

Han said the party will also accelerate work on judicial reforms and a third revision to the Commercial Act during the National Assembly’s February extraordinary session.

She said the party does not want related bills, including revisions to the Public Prosecutors’ Office Act and legislation to establish the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, to extend beyond February. Han added that setting up the new agency would take at least six months, making it urgent to prepare the legislation.

The party is divided over how far to go on prosecutorial reform. Some lawmakers have urged a full removal of prosecutors’ investigative authority, while President Lee Jae-myung has said limited exceptions may be needed for supplementary investigations.

A party official said Lee has argued supplementary investigative authority should be “very limited” but necessary, adding that the issue should be debated rather than ruled out in advance. The official said the party could first pass the law establishing the new agency in February and later amend the Criminal Procedure Act before it begins operating.

Separately, another party official pointed to what they called the Lee administration’s economic achievements, citing the benchmark KOSPI reaching 5,221 points in January and semiconductor exports rising 70.2% from a year earlier. The official urged the opposition to stop what they called blanket obstruction.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260202010000252