Kweon Seong-dong, the ruling party's floor leader, welcomed the decision by Acting President Choi Sang-mok, the Minister of Economy and Finance, to exercise the right to request reconsideration of the 'Myeong-tae-gyeon Special Prosecutor Act' on the 14th, calling it 'natural.'
After the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on that morning, Kweon said to reporters, 'As I mentioned yesterday, the Myeong-tae-gyeon Special Prosecutor Act is filled with unconstitutional elements, so it is only natural that the acting president exercised the veto.'
Earlier, Kweon requested the exercise of veto power regarding the Myeong-tae-gyeon Special Prosecutor Act, stating that it seeks to 'destroy the entire conservative camp by abusing unconstitutional and illegal investigative provisions and the public report clause to aim for an early election.'
Subsequently, Acting President Choi held an extraordinary Cabinet meeting that day and exercised the veto, citing concerns about the violation of the constitutional 'clarity principle' and 'proportionality principle' due to the unclear targets and scope of the investigation, potential infringement on presidential appointment rights against the constitutional 'separation of powers' principle, and concerns about the violation of the basic purpose of the statute of limitations and the constitutional 'due process principle.'
The Myeong-tae-gyeon Special Prosecutor Act, which passed the National Assembly's plenary session on the 27th of last month under the leadership of the opposition party, includes allegations of illegal election interference and national affairs manipulation related to Myeong-tae-gyeon in past presidential and local elections.
He announced a proactive response regarding the resolution calling for the resignation of Ryu Hee-rim, the Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, and the request for an audit concerning the 'allegations of soliciting civil complaints,' which passed the previous day's plenary session.
Kweon remarked, 'Chairperson Ryu cannot be impeached under the law, so they are intimidating in that manner,' adding, 'It is not right to pressure and intimidate Ryu for not complying with the Democratic Party's wishes and not listening to them. I believe this is the thirtieth impeachment using various systems available to the National Assembly. We will actively respond to this.'
'The allegations of soliciting civil complaints' refer to claims that in December 2023, Chairperson Ryu mobilized family and acquaintances to file a complaint with the Korea Communications Commission regarding the report quoting transcripts of the 'Kim Man-bae-Shin Hak-rim interview' by Newstapa. The Democratic Party argues that Chairperson Ryu should resign immediately for being responsible for repeated perjury to conceal the allegations, for teaching perjury to internal members, and for retaliatory personnel measures.