Reaffirms Special Counsel Bill Targeting President’s Former Aides


By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter

The majority Grand National Party (GNP) on Thursday joined forces with two other opposition parties to override President Roh Moo-hyun’s veto of a special counsel bill targeting former presidential aides in a secret vote at the National Assembly.

Of the 266 lawmakers in attendance, 209 voted in favor of overturning the presidential veto, 31 more than the two-thirds majority needed. Fifty-four voted against the bill, there were two invalid votes and one abstention.

It is the first time that a presidential veto has been overridden since the National Assembly beat back then-President Yoon Bo-sun’s veto of an anti-corruption litigation bill in 1961.

The administration is to publish the reaffirmed bill within five days of it being sent to the government.

Chong Wa Dae spokesman Yoon Tai-young said, ``It is regrettable that the opposition parties have now set the bad precedent of hijacking the prosecution’s investigative right for political purposes.’’

The Uri Party branded the vote result an affront to parliamentary democracy while the GNP and Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) hailed it, saying that the overriding of the presidential veto reflected the public support for a thorough investigation of the former presidential aides’ corruption.

The GNP, which holds 149 seats in the 272-member National Assembly, passed the bill with the support of the 60-strong MDP and 10-member United Liberal Democrats. The Uri Party, comprising 47 lawmakers loyal to Roh, voted against the bill.

The vote came 10 days after the head of state vetoed the bill citing the need to first conclude state prosecutors’ ongoing probe into his aides. The bill was originally approved by the Assembly on Nov. 10.

Following Roh’s veto, the legislature came to a standstill with all of the GNP’s members boycotting the National Assembly and its chairman staging a hunger strike.

On Thursday’s revote authorizes a special investigation into allegations of influence-peddling surrounding three former presidential aides _ Choi Do-sul, Lee Kwang-jae and Yang Gil-seung.

The Korean Bar Association will recommend two candidates to be appointed special counsel, from which the president will choose one.

The independent counsel will be guaranteed an initial two months to conduct an investigation, with the possibility of a 30-day extension.

The GNP initially began its Assembly boycott, rather than seeking to override the veto, due to uncertainty about its ability to garner enough votes. But the MDP and ULD recently vowed to support the GNP-drafted bill.

The GNP has been pursuing the special investigation, claiming that the prosecution has unfairly singled it out in its investigations into illegal campaign funding.

The Assembly boycott stalled a number of government-submitted bills such as 117 trillion won ($97 billion) budget proposal for the next fiscal year and the South Korea-Chile free trade agreement.

209 - In Favor

54 - Against

2 - Invalid

1 - Abstention

266 - Total Votes

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr