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The South Korean National Assembly has voted to reject two special prosecutor bills targeting President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee.
On January 8, the South Korean National Assembly voted to reject two bills by the special prosecutor targeting President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee.
The special prosecutor's bill targeting President Yoon calls for the appointment of special prosecutors to look into sedition charges related to the earlier declaration of martial law.
The South Korean National Assembly voted 198 in favor, 101 against and 1 abstention, rejecting the bill because it did not receive the required two-thirds majority.
The opposition unilaterally passed the bill at a plenary session of the National Assembly last month. However, the Cabinet asked the National Assembly to reconsider the decision during a meeting chaired by Acting President Choi Sang-mok.
The opposition-controlled National Assembly also rejected another bill targeting First Lady Kim Keon-hee, which calls for a special prosecutor's investigation into two major allegations of her involvement in stock manipulation and interference in election nominations through middlemen.
However, the bill targeting Ms. Kim Keon-hee was also rejected with a vote of 196 votes in favor, 103 votes against, and 1 abstention. This is considered the “fourth version” of the bill targeting the First Lady of Korea. Previously, a similar bill was vetoed by President Yoon and then also rejected by the National Assembly in a re-vote.
Ahead of the vote, Kweon Seong-dong, leader of the ruling People's Power Party (PPP), said his party had formally decided to vote against the special prosecutor's bills. Meanwhile, the main opposition Democratic Party said it would continue to submit the bills to the National Assembly if they were rejected.
During this session, the Korean National Assembly also voted to reject six other bills, especially a controversial bill related to grain, which was vetoed by acting President Han Duck-soo.
The Grain Management Act requires the government to buy surplus rice to stabilize prices during times of market volatility. In March 2023, impeached President Yoon vetoed a similar bill.
South Korean politics have been in turmoil in recent months as the opposition continues to push for impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. And recently, the opposition has also called for an investigation into acting President Choi Sang-mok, accusing him of negligence for failing to act regarding the arrest and investigation of President Yoon.
In less than two months, South Korea has had two successive leaders or leaders in power, and the third is also in an unpredictable position.
