Cabinet likely to hold special meeting next week to return special probe bill to parliament

Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok on Tuesday vetoed three bills that the opposition-led National Assembly had passed.
The bills vetoed at a Cabinet meeting, presided over by Choi at the Government Complex Seoul, included a revision of the Broadcasting Act. It aimed to reverse the government's move to charge separately for electricity and television licenses from public broadcasters Korea Broadcasting System and Education Broadcasting System.
Billing residents for television licenses and the use of electricity together, as South Korea had done for the past three decades, would "breach people's rights to choose and the property rights," Choi said in a keynote speech, adding the government could instead consider giving people the choice of being billed separately or together for the costs.
Choi also vetoed a proposed revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that sought to slow government efforts to introduce digital textbooks based on artificial intelligence technology as official school resources, instead letting schools opt whether to use them or not. Choi justified his veto saying the opposition-sponsored bill could "deal a significant blow to the national competitive edge."
Choi said he was sending back the bill on the Special Act on the Statute of Limitations for State Crimes to the parliament, noting that he was not rejecting it outright, but requesting the Assembly to modify elements he deems unconstitutional.
The bill defines actions, such as evidence tampering by investigative agencies and abuse of power, as antihumanitarian state crimes, excluding them from the application of any statute of limitations.
With Choi vetoing six bills since he was installed as acting president on Dec. 27 after then acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's impeachment, Rep. Kang Yu-jung, floor spokesperson for the main opposition Democratic Party, denounced Choi for "arrogantly abusing his power by ignoring the principle of the tripartite separation of powers," referring to the legislative, executive and judicial functions in Korea's democracy.
Overriding vetoed bills requires a two-thirds majority vote in the 300-member parliament. While the opposition parties hold 190 seats and there are two independents, the ruling party holds 108 seats in the National Assembly.
Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, however, did not discuss the bill to launch a special counsel investigation into President Yoon Suk Yeol's insurrection allegations related to his martial law declaration on Dec. 3. If not vetoed before Feb. 2, the bill will be automatically signed into law. Choi is widely believed to be mulling over vetoing the bill, as he requested bipartisan support. The bill was passed without the main opposition party reaching an agreement with the ruling party.
Choi took over the role of the acting president following the parliament's vote to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Dec. 27.