State Council Meeting Postponed... Moon Likely to Enforce 'Geomsuwanbak' Without Veto

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] As the 'Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights (Geomsu Wanbak)' bill was passed in the National Assembly on the 3rd, it is expected to be promulgated at the Cabinet meeting scheduled for the same day. The opposition party is demanding that President Moon Jae-in exercise his veto power, but the possibility of a veto is low.

The Blue House announced that the Cabinet meeting originally scheduled for 10 a.m. would be postponed to the afternoon. The exact rescheduled time has not been disclosed, but it is expected to be around 3 to 4 p.m. Accordingly, the Geomsu Wanbak bill passed at the National Assembly plenary session in the morning will go through the final Cabinet meeting of the Moon administration in the afternoon and proceed to promulgation.

The opposition party insists that President Moon should exercise his veto power against the Geomsu Wanbak bill. Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, urged, "President Moon must exercise his veto power against the harmful 'Geomsu Wanbak' bill."

However, since President Moon previously gave a positive evaluation of the 'Geomsu Wanbak bill mediation plan' agreed upon by both ruling and opposition parties, the internal atmosphere at the Blue House suggests that the possibility of a veto is low. President Moon evaluated the agreement between the two parties as "well done" during a press conference with reporters on the 25th of last month.