Cabinet sets up veto, recommends Assembly reconsider contentious bills Published: 30 Sep. 2024, 17:59 MICHAEL LEE lee.junhyuk@joongang.
co.kr Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, center, speaks at a Cabinet meeting at the Central Government Complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Monday. [YONHAP] The Cabinet approved a motion on Monday demanding that the National Assembly reconsider three bills recently passed by the liberal Democratic Party (DP) and its allies.
Two of the bills call for special counsel probes into various allegations against first lady Kim Keon Hee 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. President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to approve the motion demanding the legislature reconsider all three bills, effectively wielding his veto power. Similar versions of both special counsel bills have been vetoed before by the president.
The latest special counsel bill targeting the first lady not only calls for a probe 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. Kim has kept a low public profile since a public scandal broke over a video of her accepting a light blue calfskin Lady .