President Yoon Seok-yeol’s exercise of his right to request reconsideration (right to veto) of the so-called ‘Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act’, ‘Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act’, and the Local Currency Act, which were passed at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 19th under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, is imminent.
An official from the Blue House met with reporters on the 23rd and said, “It is the president’s duty and responsibility to exercise the right to request reconsideration of unconstitutional and illegal bills,” adding, “We will not compromise on bills that are unconstitutional, illegal, or passed without social consensus.”
Regarding the ‘Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act,’ he said this, citing the violation of the separation of powers, which infringes on the president’s right to appoint (special prosecutors), the inability to ensure political neutrality and fairness, the damage to the current judicial system, and the possibility of defamation of the subject of the investigation due to the leak of the facts of the case.
Regarding the ‘Special Prosecutor Act for the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials,’ he said, “The police investigation revealed that there was no suspicion of external pressure,” and “The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is already investigating this matter, so calling for a special prosecution is like denying the existence of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, which the Democratic Party forcibly established.”
This official also made it clear that it is difficult to accept the local currency law that was processed in the plenary session along with the special prosecutor’s law due to its side effects such as infringement on local government autonomy and the government’s budget formation rights, and disruption of prices and interest rates.
As the Blue House has listed in detail the reasons for its opposition to the three bills, it appears that President Yoon’s veto is a foregone conclusion.
Accordingly, it is expected that there will be no in-depth discussion on pressing issues such as the ‘Kim Kun-hee Special Prosecutor Act’ and the medical school quota issue at the dinner meeting between President Yoon, Representative Han Dong-hoon, and other People Power Party leaders scheduled for the 24th.
In particular, the one-on-one meeting with President Yoon that Representative Han had requested has effectively fallen through. The official said, “The one-on-one meeting is a matter to be discussed separately,” and “tomorrow is a time to encourage the new leadership.”
The official said, “The one-on-one meeting does not necessarily have to be held tomorrow,” and “You can think of it as something that will be discussed later.” It is interpreted that the one-on-one meeting schedule was postponed indefinitely in consideration of the possibility of differences of opinion between President Yoon and Representative Han over sensitive issues that could be raised.
Accordingly, the dinner on the 24th is likely to be a ceremonial meeting. Regarding the possibility that political issues such as the special prosecutor’s law will come up on the table, the official said, “Discussions on current issues may come up naturally,” but added, “This dinner is more of a meeting after the party leadership is finalized.”
After the Yongsan briefing that day, Representative Han met with reporters at the National Assembly and said, “I saw media reports saying that it would be difficult. I didn’t hear anything directly from them,” and added, “If it’s difficult this time, I think we should meet as soon as possible,” putting pressure on Yongsan again.
“I believe there are important issues that I cannot talk about publicly right now, and that we need to discuss them,” one representative said. “I am asking for it now (again).”
Meanwhile, the official reaffirmed the existing position, saying, “The ruling and opposition parties are working together with the same mindset to persuade the medical community to quickly launch a consultative body for the ruling and opposition parties regarding the issue of medical school enrollment,” but “It is realistically impossible to scrap the plan to increase enrollment for the 2025 school year.”
The Office of the President said about the suspicions of former Kobana Contents CEO Kim Kun-hee’s intervention in the nomination process, “Since the parties involved in the intervention are denying it, we have nothing further to say.”
▲Yongsan Presidential Office Building ⓒYonhap News
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