South Korean President Yoon repeatedly exercises his veto power, marking the 10th abnormal incident since taking office

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol has repeatedly exercised his veto power over bills, and the opposition party has strongly protested, saying that he is "neutralizing the right to legislate based on public opinion."
On the 21st of this month, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed a special prosecutor to investigate the death of a Marine in the line of duty in July of last year.
This is the 10th time since he took office in May 2022. It is the most among all presidents since democratization in 1987. If the South Korean president has objections to a bill passed by the National Assembly, he has the right to reconsider it within a certain period of time.
Article 53 of the Constitution provides that the Diet has the power to request a veto, i.e., the power to veto a bill. In order for a bill that has been vetoed to be passed again, a majority of the members present and a third of the members present must be present.
A bill requires the approval of at least two of the five members of the Diet. President Yoon has repeatedly used his veto power since taking office. In January of this year, Yoon's wife, Kim Kun-hee, was accused of manipulating stock prices at an imported car dealership.
The administration also vetoed a bill that would have appointed a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that the president was involved in the 2022 Seoul massacre that killed 159 people in Itaewon, a downtown district of Seoul.
President Yoon also vetoed a special law to investigate the truth behind crowd accidents and provide support to victims at the end of January. The special law calls for the establishment of a special committee to investigate the truth and conduct additional investigations.
The government expressed its opposition to the bill and called for a second vote. President Yoon's repeated vetoes have contributed to his own declining approval rating, and he was the first to win the general election on the 10th of last month.
The ruling People Power Party, which supports the Yoon administration, suffered a major defeat. Meanwhile, the opposition parties, which won a landslide victory, fell short of the 200 seats needed to pass a bill to amend the constitution or impeach the president, but they continue to play a key role in the political situation.
Following the election results, President Yoon, who has been criticized as being "self-righteous," will be forced to change the way he runs the government. On the 29th of last month, President Yoon announced that he would be the first president in 2022.
For the first time since the inauguration of the administration in May, he met with Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Lee also brought up the special bill on the Itaewon accident, which President Yoon vetoed in January.
The bill was finally passed at a plenary session on the 2nd of this month after it was amended in part by agreement between the ruling and opposition parties. President Yoon once again used his veto power, and on the 2nd of this month
The bill was launched on the 1st to investigate the government's suspicions over the death of a marine in the line of duty.
A crew member was swept away by a rapid current and died. There are suspicions that the presidential office and the Ministry of National Defense may have exerted pressure on the investigation into the accident.
On the 2nd of this month, a bill to have an independent special prosecutor investigate the case (Special Prosecutor Appointment Act, Special Prosecutor Act) was passed by the National Assembly under the leadership of the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea. However, as mentioned above, President Yoon vetoed the bill.
The deliberation was restarted because the president used the money to pay the bill. Jeong Jin-seok, chief of staff to the South Korean presidential office, said that the police and the Criminal Investigation Agency are already investigating how the accident was handled.
"This does not fit the purpose of the special prosecutor system, which should only be applied to the people," he said. However, if this law is enacted, President Yoon and even the core of the presidential office could be subject to investigation, so the veto is only applicable to those who are involved.
Some have suggested that this is to prevent a recurrence. Meanwhile, President Yoon mentioned the accident at a press conference held on the 9th of this month to mark the second anniversary of his inauguration. He said, "I want to prevent a recurrence, restore the honor of the victims, and clarify where responsibility lies."
"A rigorous investigation into the truth must be carried out to bring to light all of the truth," he said, showing some understanding of appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the matter if necessary.
The opposition parties have stepped up their criticism, with Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung saying that Yoon was once a presidential candidate.
"The person who refused the special counsel's request was the culprit," he said. "If that's the case, then President Yoon must have confessed that he is the culprit himself."
Rep. Woo Won-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is considered a leading candidate to become chairman, pointed out, "I warn President Yoon. The passage of the special prosecutor law represents the will of the people."
Meanwhile, the aforementioned Chief of Staff of the South Korean Presidential Office, Jeong, said that the special prosecutor system called for by the opposition parties was a "problem if the investigations by the investigative agencies are not thorough enough."
"It is a system that can be introduced on a supplementary or exceptional basis only in cases where the fairness or objectivity of an investigation is in doubt," he said, indicating that investigations into accidents involving the deaths of Marines in the line of duty do not fall under this category.
The opposition parties plan to re-vote on the bill at the plenary session on the 28th, but South Korea's public broadcaster KBS said, "Only 180 out of 296 seats in the opposition camp, including the Democratic Party of Korea, support the bill."
"Because they don't have a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, the bill is considered unlikely to pass."