Acting President Choi Sang-mok / Yonhap
The Cabinet on Tuesday demanded the National Assembly to reconsider two special counsel bills related to President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid and allegations surrounding the first lady.
The motion demanding reconsideration was approved during a Cabinet meeting, chaired by acting President Choi Sang-mok, who assumed the interim leadership role last week.
The opposition bloc had urged Choi to promulgate the bills mandating special probes into Yoon's botched martial law declaration on Dec. 3 and criminal allegations against first lady Kim Keon Hee.
The deadline for a decision to promulgate the bills or demand parliamentary reconsideration was Wednesday.
Rep. Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, expressed regret over the decision and vowed to push for a parliamentary revote as soon as possible.
"Rejecting special counsel bills will draw public criticism for being sympathetic to insurrection," he warned.
The special counsel probe bill on Yoon passed the National Assembly on Dec. 12, calling for the designation of special prosecutors to look into insurrection charges related to Yoon's short-lived martial law imposition.
On the same day, the parliament passed another bill mandating a special counsel probe into two key allegations involving Kim over her alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scheme and interference in election nominations through a power broker.
It is the fourth version of the bill targeting the first lady following a similar proposal vetoed by Yoon, which was ultimately scrapped in a revote.
Typically, motions like these are approved during Cabinet meetings chaired by the prime minister and sent to the president for endorsement before being returned to the National Assembly for a revote.
Choi, who also serves as deputy prime minister for economic affairs and finance minister, assumed the interim leadership role on Friday when the opposition-led parliament voted to impeach then acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. (Yonhap)
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