Acting president again vetoes special counsel into Yoon’s insurrection charges

Jan 31, 2025, 06:00 pm

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Acting President Choi Sang-mok speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the Government Complex Seoul on Jan. 31, 2025./ Source: Yonhap News

AsiaToday reporter Hong Sun-mi

Acting President Choi Sang-mok exercised his second veto Friday on the 'Insurrection Special Prosecutor Act' led by the opposition party aimed at investigating President Yoon Suk-yeol.

"Considering the protection of constitutional order and national interests, the urgency of responding to the current crisis, and the wishes of the people, it is inevitable to request a reconsideration of this special prosecutor bill," Choi said during a Cabinet meeting held at the Government Complex Seoul.

This is the second time Acting President Choi has exercised his veto power on the Insurrection Special Prosecutor Act, following the first instance on the end of last month.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) reintroduced the Insurrection Special Prosecutor Act with some modifications after it was rejected and discarded in the National Assembly's re-vote due to Acting President Choi's veto.

"Some unconstitutional elements have been addressed compared to the previous special prosecutor bill sent to the government," Choi said, expressing regret that the bill passed the National Assembly plenary session solely by the opposition party without bipartisan agreement.

"The special prosecutor system is an exceptional system to the principle of separation of powers, and should be introduced supplementarily and exceptionally only when the fairness and objectivity of the investigation are in doubt,” he added.

Furthermore, Choi emphasized, "Currently, the investigation related to martial law is significantly underway, and most key figures in the military and police, including the incumbent president, have been arrested and indicted, with trial procedures initiated." He stressed the need for careful judgment on whether to introduce a separate special prosecutor at this point when judicial procedures are already in progress.

"Although some improvements have been made compared to the previous special prosecutor bill, there are still unconstitutional elements and concerns about the potential leakage of national secrets, which could negatively impact constitutional order and national interests." He emphasized that at this point, it is more important to fairly uncover the substantive truth through the ongoing trial procedures rather than creating a new investigative body.

“We hope that the government's earnest request for the sake of the nation and the people will be understood, and that the National Assembly will engage in grand discussions,” he said.

Following the rejection of the Insurrection Special Prosecutor Act last month, the ruling and opposition parties' floor leadership attempted to negotiate a related bill but failed to reach an agreement.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) opposed the bill, criticizing the 'cognition investigation clause' that allows for the investigation of foreign exchange crimes or insurrection and propaganda, and the provision for frequent media briefings on the investigation, labeling them as toxic clauses.

In response, the opposition party reflected the ruling party's demands by removing the existing foreign exchange investigation and insurrection propaganda-related parts and reducing the investigation period and scale, but the ruling party still cited unconstitutional elements, leading to a failure to reach an agreement.

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