Yoon to veto bill mandating special counsel investigation into death of Marine Corporal Chae

Leaders of seven opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, hold a joint press conference in front of the presidential office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday, calling for the acceptance of the Marine Corps Special Prosecutor Act. Cho Tae-hyung

President Yoon Suk-yeol plans to exercise his right of veto on a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into the death of Marine Corporal Chae Su-geun on May 21. It will be Yoon's tenth veto since taking office and his first since the crushing defeat in the April 10 general election. The bill also regards Yoon as a target of the investigation. Following the special counsel investigation bill on First Lady Kim Keon-hee, Yoon is expected to face criticism for using presidential powers as a “bulletproof vest” for himself and his family.

"An agreement between the ruling and opposition parties (to accept the special counsel investigation bill) must be premised,” a senior official at the presidential office said in a phone interview on May 20. It is interpreted as an intention to exercise the right to veto. The bill mandating investigation into the death of Chae was passed on the 2nd by the opposition parties including Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). Yoon is expected to veto the bill in the form of approving a request for exercising his right of veto, which was approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

If Yoon exercises his veto power, it will be his 10th veto since taking office. It is likely that Yoon's message of cooperation after the defeat in the general election will fade and a stronger confrontation will emerge. As a key issue in the investigation is whether Yoon and the presidential office were involved, criticism of Yoon using his veto power as a “bulletproof vest” is likely to intensify following the special bill on Kim. The opposition has criticized the president's “self-imposed exoneration” and is also discussing the impeachment of the president.

Yoon is unlikely to directly explain the reason for the veto. It is believed that he explained the reason for it through a press conference on the second anniversary of his inauguration on May 9 and a briefing by Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk on the 2nd In the previous nine vetoes, Yoon expressed his position at Cabinet meetings only twice, including the revision of the Grain Management Act in April last year and the enactment of the Nursing Act in May the same year. In the other seven cases, the prime minister presided over the meeting.

However, the ruling party also points out that Yoon should directly explain his exercise of the veto at a time when he is being asked to change the way of managing the country after the defeat in the general election. An official from the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) said in a phone interview, "If he has to exercise his veto power, wouldn't it be better to show sincerity to people?" and added, "If Yoon explains it himself, people will think that he has changed even a little bit." Some say it does not matter who will preside over a meeting. "The government's position is firm, so it doesn't matter who will do it," a senior PPP lawmaker said in a phone interview.

The Yoon administration, which is in its third year in office, has already become the government that has exercised veto power the most since the Roh Tae-woo administration. Yoon exercised his first veto power on the revision bill of the Grain Control Act in April last year. Since then, he vetoed the “Nursing Act,” the “Yellow Envelope Act,” the “Three Broadcasting Act,” and the “Twin Special Counsel Investigation Act.” On January 30, Yoon vetoed the special bill mandating a new investigation into the Itaewon crowd crush, which was his ninth veto. Previously, former President Roh Tae-woo vetoed seven times, followed by former President Roh Moo-hyun, who vetoed four times.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.