Ruling Party: "Aimed at Devastating the Conservative Camp" with the Myeong Tae-gyun Special Prosecutor Act
Choi Sang-mok Expected to Exercise Veto Citing Lack of Bipartisan Agreement
Choi Sang-mok, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister as well as Minister of Strategy and Finance, is expected to exercise the right to request reconsideration (veto power) on the 'Myeong Tae-gyun Special Prosecutor Act,' which was passed by the National Assembly plenary session led by the opposition party, during an extraordinary Cabinet meeting held on the morning of the 14th.
According to the government on the 13th, Acting President Choi will preside over an extraordinary Cabinet meeting at 9 a.m. on the 14th at the Government Seoul Office Building. It is known that a proposal to request reconsideration of the Myeong Tae-gyun Special Prosecutor Act will be submitted at the Cabinet meeting.
Choi Sang-mok, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister as well as Minister of Economy and Finance, is delivering a congratulatory speech at the 2025 New Police Inspectors and Senior Inspectors Appointment Ceremony held on the 13th at the Korean National Police University in Asan, Chungnam. Photo by Yonhap News
The Myeong Tae-gyun Special Prosecutor Act targets investigations into allegations of public opinion manipulation and interference in candidate nominations surrounding Myeong Tae-gyun. It was passed by the National Assembly plenary session led by opposition parties including the Democratic Party of Korea on the 27th of last month. Since the deadline for exercising the veto power is the 15th, Acting President Choi must hold an extraordinary Cabinet meeting to decide whether to promulgate the law.
Earlier, the ruling party requested Acting President Choi to exercise the veto power on the Myeong Tae-gyun Special Prosecutor Act.
Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, said in a general assembly of lawmakers on the same day, "We hoped that Prime Minister Han Deok-soo would return and exercise the right to request reconsideration, but since the Constitutional Court is delaying the impeachment ruling for unknown reasons, we are compelled to request Acting President Choi to exercise the right to request reconsideration."
Regarding the Myeong Tae-gyun Special Prosecutor Act, Floor Leader Kwon emphasized, "It is an unconstitutional and political special prosecutor full of toxic provisions," and added, "They intend to use unconstitutional and illegal investigative provisions and the clause on reporting to the public to aim for an early presidential election and completely devastate the entire conservative camp."
In political circles, there is widespread expectation that Acting President Choi will exercise the veto power on the Myeong Tae-gyun Special Prosecutor Act at the extraordinary Cabinet meeting. It is known that Acting President Choi gathered opinions supporting the exercise of veto power from a considerable number of Cabinet members during a private meeting held before the Cabinet meeting on the 11th.
Regarding the 'Broadcasting and Communications Commission Act Amendment Bill,' for which the People Power Party requested Acting President Choi to exercise veto power, it is known that it will not be submitted at this extraordinary Cabinet meeting.
The Broadcasting and Communications Commission Act stipulates that the minimum quorum for meetings of the Broadcasting and Communications Commission is three members, and the voting quorum is a majority of attending members. Floor Leader Kwon explained about this bill, "Maintaining a two-member system for the Broadcasting and Communications Commission while changing the quorum to three or more is an attempt to impeach the Broadcasting and Communications Commission by suspending the entire organization’s duties and paralyzing its operations."
The Broadcasting and Communications Commission Act passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 27th of last month but was sent to the government on the 7th, with a processing deadline of the 22nd. Acting President Choi is also likely to exercise veto power on this bill, but since there is some time before the deadline, he is expected to make a decision after observing the results of Prime Minister Han’s impeachment trial.
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