Seoul, June 5 (IANS) The South Korean National Assembly on Thursday passed a special counsel bill to probe insurrection charges surrounding former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed attempt to impose martial law.
The bill was approved in a 194-3 vote with one abstention at a plenary session of the National Assembly that is controlled by the ruling Democratic Party (DP).
During the parliamentary session, lawmakers also passed two other special counsel bills, including one targeting former first lady Kim Keon Hee over allegations of stock price manipulation and Kim’s acceptance of a luxury bag.
The bill targeting Yoon mandates a permanent special counsel to investigate 11 charges, including insurrection and military mutiny, over his failed martial law bid in December.
The bill was reintroduced after being previously vetoed and discarded twice, with its scope expanded from six charges to 11.
The third bill seeks to launch a special counsel probe into allegations that the presidential office and the defence ministry inappropriately interfered in the military’s investigation into a Marine’s death during a search mission in July 2023, Yonhap news agency reported.
The National Assembly also passed a separate bill that would allow the justice minister, in addition to the prosecutor general, to directly request disciplinary action against prosecutors.
Most of the PPP lawmakers did not participate in the vote in protest, criticising the DP’s move to unilaterally push through bills that lack bipartisan agreement.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung was elected President after months of turmoil surrounding the impeachment and ouster of his former opponent over a botched attempt to impose martial law.
Lee’s win was a remarkable comeback after having lost to former President Yoon Suk Yeol by a razor-thin margin of less than 1 percentage point in the previous election in 2022.
While Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law in December paved the way for Lee’s rise to the presidency, it also deepened the nation’s political divide and increased the challenges posed by everything from the United States’ tariff policies to North Korea’s advancing nuclear weapons program, reports Yonhap news agency.
With all votes counted, Lee of the liberal DP won 49.42 per cent of the votes, compared with 41.15 per cent for his conservative People Power Party (PPP) rival Kim Moon-soo.
–IANS
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