Parliament approves independent counsel probe into online opinion rigging scandal SEOUL , May 21 ( Yonhap ) -- South Korea ' s parliament on Monday passed a proposal to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate an online opinion rigging scandal involving a former ruling party lawmaker . Their passage came after the rival parties reached a compromise to break the long - running parliamentary impasse last week . Under the deal , the ruling Democratic Party agreed to an independent counsel probe into the scandal while the main opposition Liberty Korea Party agreed to pass the supplementary budget . The National Assembly is expected to pass the budget bill later in the day . The scandal centers on allegations that a power blogger , known by his nickname Druking , and his team manipulated comments on Internet news stories in an effort to sway public opinion on hot political issues and that ex - Rep . Kim Kyoung - soo of the ruling party knew and had communicated with Druking . Under the bill , a special probe team will be given as long as 90 days for the inquiry . sooyeon @ yna . co . kr ( END )