Yoon vetoes three bills, including special investigation into first lady

President Yoon Suk Yeol walks into a meeting room at the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Wednesday. [YONHAP] President Yoon Suk Yeol exercised his veto power on Wednesday by endorsing Cabinet motions demanding that the National Assembly reconsider three bills, including one that calls for a special counsel probe into first lady Kim Keon Hee. Yoon has vetoed a total of 24 bills pushed through the legislature by the liberal Democratic Party (DP) since he took office in May 2022, but several of them were almost identical versions of legislation that had previously been rejected by the president. Two of the bills sent back to the National Assembly on Wednesday call for special counsel probes into various allegations against Kim and the military’s handling of the death of a young Marine corporal, while the other bill promotes the use of localized currency vouchers intended to stimulate regional economies. Related ArticleCabinet sets up veto, recommends Assembly reconsider contentious billsPresident Yoon casts 19th veto of term, nixing contentious media bills Lawmakers fail to override Yoon's veto of special probe into Marine's death In a press briefing the same day, presidential spokesperson Jeong Hey-jeon claimed the vetoed bills were “unconstitutional and unlawful” and accused the DP of repeatedly pushing them through the legislature for political gain. Jeong also criticized the DP for trying to pass the bills without reaching an agreement with the conservative People Power Party (PPP), which is aligned with the Yoon administration. Presidential spokesperson Jeong Hey-jeon speaks at a press briefing in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Wednesday. [YONHAP] The latest special counsel bill targeting the first lady calls for an independent probe not only into Kim’s alleged involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme but also into her acceptance of a luxury handbag from a Korean American pastor in 2022 and suspicions that she interfered in the conservative People Power Party’s (PPP) candidate nomination process before the April general election. A similar bill previously was passed by the previous National Assembly in January but was scrapped after it failed to garner enough votes to override Yoon’s veto. Although the DP has said it will try to overcome Yoon’s vetoes in a revote, that prospect depends on whether it can muster support from two-thirds of lawmakers in the 300-member legislature. The DP controls 170 seats, while the PPP controls 108 seats. The other special counsel bill is the fourth such bill to to call for a probe into allegations that the presidential office and the Defense Ministry interfered in the military’s investigation into the death of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who drowned during a search and rescue mission amid flooding during heavy rain in July last year. Unlike the previous three bills, the latest version gives the Supreme Court chief justice the right to nominate candidates to serve as special counsel. The third bill rejected by the Cabinet on Monday ordered the central government and regional authorities to fund the creation of currency vouchers to boost their local economies. The presidential office has argued that such vouchers could lead to fiscal disparities between regional governments. BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]