[Insight & Opinion] Will Exercising the Veto Resolve the Kim Geon-hee Issue?

The Democratic Party has passed the so-called ‘Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act.’ President Yoon Seok-yeol is expected to exercise his veto power by requesting a reconsideration. Han Dong-hoon, the recently appointed emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, also criticized it as a malicious law for the Democratic Party’s general election strategy. Since a reconsideration requires the approval of more than two-thirds of the National Assembly members, it is unlikely to succeed. So, does this mean the controversies surrounding Mrs. Kim Geon-hee are resolved? Not at all. Various controversies remain.

The “Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the Truth Investigation into the Stock Price Manipulation Allegations of Deutsche Motors by the President’s Spouse Kim Geon-hee,” abbreviated as the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act, is based on the legislative intent that despite suspicions of Mrs. Kim’s involvement in stock price manipulation, “the prosecution has turned a blind eye to illegal acts by repeatedly conducting time-wasting investigations and lenient investigations on the grounds that she is the president’s spouse, failing to clarify the truth about the stock price manipulation and disruption of the financial market order,” and therefore a special prosecutor must be appointed to uncover the truth.

The ruling party denies the basis of the special prosecutor law itself, arguing that the matter was either dismissed as no charges during the Moon Jae-in administration’s prosecution or was not even investigated due to lack of criminal suspicion. Nevertheless, they claim that the Democratic Party pushed the special prosecutor law as a political tactic to use it as an issue in the April general election next year. Therefore, the president and the ruling party believe it is natural to reject it through a veto request. The Democratic Party, which proposed the special prosecutor law, counters the ruling party’s claim by saying it was the result of protection by the pro-Yoon Seok-yeol prosecution cartel.

The opposition has criticized President Yoon for overusing his veto power, including on the ‘Yellow Envelope Act’ veto request. Both the National Assembly’s legislation and the president’s veto request are constitutional procedures and legal. In fact, the Democratic Party and others have sometimes pushed the bill politically, anticipating the president’s veto power and using it as a means to confront politically. This reflects the polarized political reality as it is.

In the case of the ‘Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act,’ public opinion was much more supportive of the special prosecutor law. It may be a public opinion poll conducted without specific information about the bill’s content, as the People Power Party claims. However, beyond the stock price manipulation allegations, various controversies surrounding Mrs. Kim Geon-hee have contributed to growing public support for the special prosecutor law. The recently surfaced ‘Dior bag’ issue is a case in point. Even if it was a hidden camera operation, the fact that Mrs. Kim received an expensive luxury bag as a gift does not exempt her. A responsible apology for the first lady’s acceptance of expensive gifts is natural. That is common sense. The presidential office and the parties involved remain silent.

In this process, it was also a serious problem that an unverified person was given special treatment by the president’s spouse for a meeting, and the recording of that conversation was made public. The recording was already embarrassing before the president’s election, and such incidents have continued even after the president’s inauguration. A columnist who sighed at Mrs. Kim’s conduct while being angry at the ruling party’s immorality seriously pointed out this issue.

Regarding the false career controversy during the presidential election, it is recommended to recall the candidate’s pledge to “be careful and careful again” and to “focus only on the role of the wife” even if her husband becomes president. Even if the veto is exercised because the special prosecutor law is a malicious law for the opposition’s general election strategy, reflection and follow-up measures on the first lady’s role awareness and actions are absolutely necessary. Regardless of the truth, the more the Kim Geon-hee issue becomes a political issue, the more major national agendas are pushed aside, and the president’s leadership is distorted. I want to emphasize this point again.

Kim Man-heum, Distinguished Professor at Hansung University, Former Director of the National Assembly Legislative Research Office

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.