Acting President turns down special probe for Yoon's martial law as opposition warns of retaliation

Acting President Choi Sang-mok today vetoed a second version of a bill, recently passed by the opposition, that would start a special investigation behind the declaration of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

He cited the fact that the president and some of the key figures have already been arrested and indicted.

Our Kim Do-yeon explains.

For the second time Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok vetoed a bill that would start a special probe into President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law and the charges of insurrection from it.

This came on Friday afternoon at a Cabinet meeting as Choi said it was "inevitable."

"As the Acting President, I see vetoing this bill as inevitable, considering the constitutional order, protection of national interests, and urgency of responding to the crises, as well as the wishes of the public."

As for the specifics he started off with the fact that there already is a criminal trial going on.

He said the state prosecutors have already indicted the President and some of the case's key figures while having them under arrest.

He says kicking off a new special probe is only necessary when it needs to complement an investigation that's finished.

Therefore, the result of the ongoing trial must come first.

As for the unconstitutional aspect he vetoed the first version saying that the bill could breach the three branches of government rule.

For this one he says some aspects were resolved from the first version but some issues remain.

In addition, the wide scope of the investigation laid out on the bill could compromise some of the nation's confidential information as well.

Meanwhile, this new version cut down the allegations from 11 to 6 with the Supreme Court Chief Justice coming up with two options for the chief prosecutor for the Acting President to appoint from.

These revisions were made to address the issues Choi brought up when vetoing the first version of the bill.

As expected, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea responded to the veto by saying it would hold Choi responsible possibly referring to another impeachment.

The party's floor spokesperson released a written statement saying that it was not unilaterally passed as the ruling People Power Party refused to negotiate the details of the bill.

In addition, while the investigation and trial are going on others who worked with President Yoon for this declaration not yet questioned need to be vetted as well.

The ruling People Power Party had already suggested the Acting President veto the bill with the same reasoning as the acting president, but the PPP went further saying that the special probe bill was a political act by the opposition.

Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News.