By Shim Jae-yun
Staff Reporter
President Roh Moo-hyun on Sunday claimed he is entitled to veto the National Assembly-passed bill for the introduction of a special prosecutor to investigate the alleged corruption charges involving his former aides.

``The president is given the vetoing right in accordance with the national Constitution,’’ Roh said during a media conference at Chunchukwan, the pressroom of the presidential office of Chong Wa Dae.

In response, the majority Grand National Party (GNP) criticized Roh for avoiding his responsibility as head of state. ``President Roh is trying to cover up a corruption scandal allegedly involving his aides,’’ GNP spokesman Park Jin said. ``The people and our party will veto President Roh, should he reject the special probe bill.’’

Roh has been expressing opposition to the independent counsel bill initiated by the opposition parties, describing it as an attempt to dilute the ongoing prosecution investigation into illegal presidential campaign funds that are mainly targeting the GNP.

``Calling a possible presidential request for reassessment of the bill as unconstitutional and neglecting the authority of the National Assembly comes as a result of ignorance of the Constitution,’’ he said.

He went on to say that while the National Assembly is given legislative rights, the president is endowed with executive administrative power including the right to veto the measure.

Despite such a statement, Roh stopped short of whether he would actually exercise his right to veto.

``Whether I will veto the bill or not is a separate matter. I would like to clarify the legal dispute surrounding the issue of the special prosecutor bill,’’ he said.

On the other hand, he expressed his willingness to allow the prosecution to press on with the ongoing investigation into the illegal campaign funds for the presidential election last year.

``The investigative right belongs to the government and it is disputable whether the National Assembly can block the right and order probes of only certain cases,’’ he said.

In the face of the GNP’s move to push for the special prosecutor bill, Justice Minister Kang Kum-sil said she would call on Roh to veto the bill.

Roh is set to come up with his final determination over the bill by Nov. 25.

jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr