President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and first lady Kim Keon Hee clap during a dinner meeting with athletes who participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics at a hotel in Seoul, Aug. 22. Yonhap The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed regret Monday over the opposition's renewed push for bills mandating special probes into first lady Kim Keon Hee and a Marine's death that he had previously vetoed.
A bill calling for a special counsel into Kim's allegations, including stock manipulation, the receipt of a luxury bag and interference in personnel affairs, passed the parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee's bill review subcommittee, led by the main opposition Democratic Party. It will undergo further review at the judiciary committee before being introduced in the National Assembly's plenary session for a vote. If passed, it would be the second such bill after a similar bill was vetoed by Yoon and scrapped in a revote in January.
"More controversial provisions have been added to the bill that was previously discarded," a senior presidential official told reporters. "People would feel tired of it by now." The official explained Yoon vetoed a similar bill as the stock manipulation case had already been investigated under the previous Moon Jae-in administration and expressed concerns that an investigation by a special prosecutor appointed by the opposition could be biased.
Prosecutors last month decided to drop graft, bribery and other charges against Kim regarding her accepta.