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President Yoon Suk-yeol enters a swearing-in ceremony for new ambassadors to Korea at the presidential office complex in Seoul’s Yongsan District on May 21, 2024. (Yonhap)

On Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol vetoed a bill that would have launched a special counsel probe into the death of a Marine during flooding rescue work last year. The political opposition wants to have a special prosecutor look into allegations that the presidential office — and potentially Yoon himself — interfered in an investigation into the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun. 

By sending the bill back to the National Assembly, Yoon opens himself up to criticism for defying the public will by using his veto power to shield himself from a potentially damaging investigation. This is the fourth bill Yoon has vetoed this year alone, and the 10th since his inauguration barely two years ago. 

After the Cabinet moved to have the National Assembly reconsider the special counsel bill in a Tuesday meeting chaired by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Yoon endorsed the motion and vetoed the bill. His veto came 14 days after the bill was presented to the administration on May 7 after being railroaded through the National Assembly by the Democratic Party and other opposition parties on May 2. 

“The bill for the special counsel probe neither conforms to the spirit of the Constitution, corresponds to the purpose of the special counsel system, nor guarantees the fairness and neutrality of the investigation. We ask the National Assembly to prudently reconsider this bill,” said Chung Jin-suk, Yoon’s chief of staff, in a briefing. 

“Under the constitutional principle of the division of powers, investigation and indictment are prerogatives and functions that are reserved for the executive branch. A prime example of that is the special counsel probe system, so that system can only be exercised through consensus between the opposition party and the ruling party, of which the head of the executive branch is a member,” Chung said. 

Chung also noted that the issue is already being investigated by the police and by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and that the bill would have empowered the opposition party to recommend candidates for special prosecutor. 

When asked whether the president really ought to nominate and appoint a special prosecutor for an investigation of his own office and person, a senior official at the presidential office said, “It’s up to the investigating authorities to determine the truth of any alleged interference by the president.” 

The Democratic Party and five other smaller opposition parties strongly objected to the president’s veto. 

“Yoon apologized verbally but has not only defied the people’s command [to approve a special prosecutor] but has come out and vowed to fight against the public. He has confessed [through his veto] that he’s a criminal, and now he’ll have to take responsibility as a criminal,” said Lee Jae-myung, the head of the Democratic Party, in a joint press conference with civic groups and opposition parties in front of the National Assembly building. 

“Yoon is adding the ‘dictatorship of the executive branch’ to the ‘dictatorship of the prosecution service.’ He’s following in the footsteps of former President Syngman Rhee,” said Cho Kuk, the leader of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party.

The opposition parties will attempt to override Yoon’s veto of the bill for a special counsel probe into Chae’s death in the final session of the 21st National Assembly on Tuesday and, if that attempt fails, to reintroduce the bill in the 22nd National Assembly. As such, the squabble over the special counsel probe is likely to continue for some time. 

By Jang Na-rye, staff reporter; Kang Jae-gu, staff reporter 

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