A plenary session of the National Assembly is being held on Dec. 31. (Yonhap)
A plenary session of the National Assembly is being held on Dec. 31. (Yonhap)

The bills to authorize a special counsel to investigate an insurrection charge against President Yoon Suk Yeol and criminal allegations against his wife Kim Keon Hee will be put to a vote again at the National Assembly on Wednesday, as the opposition seeks to overcome a presidential veto against them.

Eight bills, also including the revision of the Grain Management Act -- which mandates increased government intervention to shore up rice prices when they fall -- will be deliberated at the plenary session slated for 2 p.m.

The special counsel bills and the grain bill are being voted on again after a presidential veto. Passage requires more than half of the lawmakers to vote, and the approval of more than two-thirds of those voting.

All three bills had been unilaterally passed by the opposition parties, but the Cabinet, under then-acting President Han Duck-soo last month, vetoed the grain bill and did not even put the special counsel bill on the table. This prompted the opposition-controlled Assembly to vote to impeach Han.

Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok has now taken over as acting president.

Choi on Dec. 31 vetoed the special counsel bills and asked the lawmakers to redeliberate on them.

The ruling People Power Party and the opposition remain at odds over the bills, particularly the special counsel bills targeting Yoon and Kim.

Yoon is currently undergoing an impeachment trial and a criminal investigation in relation to his Dec. 3 declaration of the martial law and his subsequent orders to his military commanders, and the bill would authorize designation of special prosecutors that will look into the insurrection charge he is currently facing.

Kim faces allegations of being involved in a stock manipulation scheme and interfering with the election nomination process.

Both special counsel bills and the grain bill will be scrapped if they fail to get the votes required to override the presidential veto. The ruling party holds 108 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly, which means the ruling party can block the bills if they vote against them in unison.

The ruling party's floor leader Kweon Seong-dong on Tuesday reaffirmed the party's position to vote against the special counsel bills on Tuesday. Park Chan-dae, his counterpart for the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, said the People Power Party opposing the bill would "solidify the public's perception of it, as a party that goes along with insurrection and unconstitutional deeds."


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com