Acting President Han Deok-soo is weighing the exercise of the right to request reconsideration (veto) on six bills, including the amendment to the Grain management Act, which the opposition party passed alone, but is making last-minute efforts. Instead of suspending the presentation of these bills at the Cabinet meeting on the 17th,it was decided to hold an extraordinary cabinet meeting this week to purposeful on whether to exercise the right to veto the six bills. As the Democratic Party of Korea is strongly opposed to Acting President Han’s exercise of the veto, the intention is to take more time to engage in dialogue with the opposition party. Acting President Han attended the ceremony commemorating the day of Mid-sized Businessmen on the 16th and said, “We will be able to launch a consultative body that includes both the ruling and opposition party politicians and the Speaker of the National Assembly.” He added, “We will bring various arduous issues to the consultative body for discussion, communication, and peace of mind for the people.” “He said.
An official from the Prime Minister’s Office said, “Because we have judged that sufficient deliberation and discussion is necessary, we will hold off on presenting this agenda to the Cabinet meeting on the 17th and actively communicate with the opposition party.” Since the veto period for the six bills is until the 21st, the decision on whether to exercise the veto will be made after sufficiently persuading the opposition party.
Acting President Han Deok-soo reportedly said in a phone call with Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myeong on the 14th that six bills,including the Grain Management Act,“are not appropriate when looking at the future of the republic of Korea.” After much deliberation, Acting President Han postponed the cabinet meeting on the 17th a day before the meeting to deliberate on whether to veto the bills. The deadline for vetoing these bills is the 21st. An official from the Prime Minister’s Office said, “It is expected that an extraordinary Cabinet meeting will be convened later this week.” It is indeed interpreted that it was decided that more time was needed to sufficiently communicate with and persuade the opposition party until then. An acting representative attended the ceremony commemorating Mid-sized Entrepreneurs’ Day and said, “The Constitution, laws, and systems and policies for the future of the Republic of korea must be maintained and implemented.“We will do it,” he said. In addition to mentioning the ruling and opposition party consultative body, an acting authority emphasized on the spot content that was not in the original draft of the speech. He also said, “We will consult with the National Assembly and resubmit the corporate inheritance and gift tax relief bill quickly and strive to have it passed as soon as possible.”
Acting President Han’s emphasis in this way appears to have been due to the expectation that a solution could be prepared before the veto deadline as there is a possibility of operating the National Stability Consultative Body proposed by Representative Lee, including a meeting between Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-
● Korea tries to persuade Noh that “impeachment is not significant”
A senior government official said on the 16th, “An acting president said to those around him, ‘Impeachment is not important to me. (Exercise of veto) The criteria for judgment are the constitution, law, and the future of the people. He said, “It is my last duty to stabilize the government.” As the government is raising issues with six bills and suggesting the exercise of the veto, this is interpreted to mean that the exercise of the veto is, in principle, inevitable. this is because it is difficult for the government to turn its back on bills it has opposed just because the political situation has changed.
However, Acting President Han said that he would focus on minimizing conflict by persuading and communicating with the opposition party as much as possible about the problems and complementary measures of the bill. The purpose is that more deliberation and discussion is needed as the acting Chancellor’s range of maneuver may be narrowed due to opposition from the Democratic Party if the veto is unilaterally enforced. A government official said, “The relevant ministries (of the six bills, including the Grain Management Act amendment) are explaining the bill’s side effects and complementary measures to the National assembly.” Another senior official also said, “In the face of impeachment, the government must build trust with the opposition party.”
Within the Prime Minister’s Office, there is a trend of considering ways to find a third way by focusing on the nursing law model that passed the National Assembly in August with agreement between the ruling and opposition parties after much pains. One official said, “it is not a matter of dichotomous whether to exercise the right to request reconsideration or not.” He added, “After President Yoon exercised his first veto, there was a strong backlash from nursing assistants in the Democratic Party, so didn’t they prepare a bill without problematic provisions and pass it with agreement between the ruling and opposition parties?” He said. This is interpreted to mean that even if the government exercises its veto power on six controversial bills at the extraordinary Cabinet meeting later this week,if the ruling and opposition parties reach an agreement through sufficient dialogue before then,the supplemented amendments can be passed again with agreement between the ruling and opposition parties.
The Prime Minister’s Office explains that the Special Prosecution Act on Insurrection and the Special Prosecution Act on First Lady Kim Kun-hee, which are other controversial bills, are unlikely to be processed together as they have not yet been transferred to the government after passing the National Assembly on the 12th.
● The nursing law model of consensus processing after veto was also discussed.