"The Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecution Act is unacceptable"

South Korean President Yun Suk-yol and his wife, Kim Gun-hee, raise their hands to greet guests as they disembark from Air Force One on Sept. 11. Yonhap News Agency

The ruling People's Power Party, the government, and the presidential office reportedly held a closed-door high-level party meeting on December 25 and set a stance of “even conditional acceptance is out of the question” for the Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecution Act. This raises the possibility that President Yoon Suk-yeol will exercise his right of veto over the Special Prosecution Law.

According to a report by Kyunghyang Shinmun, the PPP’s floor leader Yoon Jae-ok, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, and presidential chief of staff Kim Dae-ki held a closed-door high-level party meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Seoul. The meeting reportedly discussed how to respond to the special prosecution law against the First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

The ruling party reportedly reached the conclusion that it could not accept the special prosecution law pushed by the main opposition Minjoo Party. In particular, there was a consensus that "conditional acceptance," such as pushing for it after the general election, which has been suggested by some in the ruling party, was also not possible.

Regarding the special prosecutor law, an official at the presidential office said, "I don't think there is any possibility of conditional acceptance.” A high-ranking official at the PPP said, “Our party's position on the special prosecutor law has never changed.” Lee Kwan-seop, the senior secretary for government affairs, appeared on KBS the previous day and mentioned the Daejangdong 5 billion won Club special prosecution law and the Kim Keon-hee special prosecution law, saying, "The presidential office firmly hold the view that these bills must be designed with the intention of damaging the general election."

Lawmakers from the ruling party continued to express their "absolute opposition" to the special prosecutor. "If they want to push for a special prosecution aiming for the general election, they should first admit that they were incompetent and ask for forgiveness from the people," Lee Cheol-kyu, a key member of the pro-Yoon coalition, said on social media, claiming that the former Moon Jae-in administration had investigated Kim for two years and found no evidence of wrongdoing.

The high-level party meeting is believed to have been organized hastily to decide on a joint action as December 28th, the deadline for the Minjoo Party to file the special prosecution law, is just three days away. Yoon's attendance was likely due to the fact that former Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon has not yet taken over as the new leader of the PPP’s emergency committee.

The possible conditional acceptance of the special prosecution law by some in the ruling party also contributed to the urgent discussion. Han, the former Justice Minister, referred to the "poison pill clause" as a stumbling block, calling the special prosecution law "an evil law that was created at a good time for the Democratic Party's propaganda and incitement in the next general election," and some media interpreted this to mean that the special prosecution law could be accepted after the general election. However, News1 quoted an official at the PPP, saying, "I heard that President Yoon was furious about it."

At a briefing on the same day, Park Seong-jun, the spokesperson for the Minjoo Party, said, "It's ridiculous to refuse any investigation when there are so many suspicions ranging from stock price manipulation to land speculation. The majority of the people demand a special prosecution for Kim Keon-hee, but on what basis does President Yoon insist on absolute refusal?"

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