Acting President Choi Sang-mok on Friday vetoed a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into allegations that impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol interfered in the candidate nominations for last year’s parliamentary elections and the 2022 by-elections.
Addressing the reason behind Choi's exercise of veto power, acting Justice Minister Kim Seok-woo cited concerns that the unclear number of past elections mentioned in the special counsel investigation bill could open unnecessary probes.
The bill was drafted by the six opposition parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. It aims to launch a probe into the allegations that Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee received help from a self-proclaimed power broker named Myung Tae-kyun to nominate an aide for the 2022 National Assembly by-election.
Myung allegedly accepted around 76 million won ($53,200) from Yoon's aide and former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun in the process of helping her get nominated as a conservative candidate.
The bill also targets allegations that Yoon and the first lady asked former Rep. Kim Young-sun to give up on running for the general election in 2024. This was an attempt to help get another aide of the first lady nominated as a candidate for former Rep. Kim’s constituency, which is Uichang-gu, in Changwon, the broker's base of operation, the main opposition claimed.
The bill, dubbed the "Myung Tae-kyun Special Counsel Bill," was passed by the opposition-controlled Assembly on Feb. 27.
Prosecutors have indicted and detained both Myung and former People Power Party Rep. Kim for breaching the Political Funds Act.
Choi criticized the bill as unconstitutional and said that passing such a bill when a prosecution investigation into the election influence-peddling scandal is underway would be a hurdle for the ongoing probe.
"The scope of the investigation is excessively broad and lacks clarity, raising concerns about potential violations of the constitutional principles of precision and proportionality," Choi said while presiding over an extraordinary Cabinet meeting. "At a time when a prosecution investigation has been gaining momentum, introducing such special counsel investigation goes against the fundamental purpose of the special prosecutor system."
In a press briefing tied to the Cabinet meeting, the acting justice minister explained that several articles in the bill fail to specify the timeframe of the elections that could be subjected to a special prosecution probe, which could result in a “violation of rights” for several suspects involved in election scandals.
The article in question states that the probe targets “allegations of illegal transactions tied to candidate nominations and illegal or false conduct of survey in recent elections.”
“(The lack of detail in the timeframe of the elections) could lead to infinite expansion of the scope of the probe as well as rights violations of the suspects,” acting Justice Minister Kim said.
This marks the eighth bill Choi has exercised his veto power on since assuming the role of acting president and acting prime minister on Dec. 27, 2024.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
