On November 14th, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, during the 418th National Assembly’s 12th plenary session, a law bill regarding the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the stock manipulation case involving Kim Keon-hee, the spouse of President Yoon Suk-yeol, was passed. This occurred in the absence of members from the People Power Party. The bill was passed with 191 votes in favor out of 191 members present, with zero votes against and zero abstentions. This marks the third time the “Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecutor Bill” has passed the plenary session, following two previous rejections due to President Yoon’s exercise of his veto power.
The National Assembly convened on this day to approve a revised version of the bill proposed by Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min, which aims to investigate the allegations involving Kim Keon-hee. Only members of the Democratic Party and Justice Party participated in the vote, as members of the ruling People Power Party boycotted it.
The People Power Party announced shortly after the vote that they would formally propose to President Yoon to exercise his veto power (reconsideration request) against the Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecutor Bill, with Floor Leader Chu Kyung-ho affirming a strong recommendation to block the bill.
Prior to the plenary session, the People Power Party held a general assembly, deciding not to participate in the vote concerning the “Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecutor Bill.” Floor Leader Chu criticized the bill, claiming it was a divisive maneuver by the Democratic Party, and declared the party’s firm opposition to what they consider an unconstitutional bill.
The Democratic Party’s revised bill introduced a “third-party recommendation” approach, where the Chief Justice nominates four candidates for the special prosecutor, and the Democratic Party and non-negotiation groups reduce them to two, from which the President appoints one. If the nominees are deemed unsuitable, the bill grants the opposition the right to request new candidates via the Speaker of the National Assembly. The bill’s scope of investigation has been significantly narrowed from 14 areas, which included issues like luxury bag receipts and Yangpyeong Expressway construction, to just two: the alleged involvement of political broker Myung Tae-kyun in candidate nominations and the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case.
The passage of this bill marks its third approval in a plenary session. The first bill was passed under opposition initiative during the 21st National Assembly but was rejected following a veto by President Yoon. The opposition had reintroduced a similar bill in September, including allegations about Mrs. Kim’s involvement in general election interventions, but it was ultimately discarded following another veto.