The Democratic Party(DP) is criticizing President Yoon Suk Yeol for rejecting the opposition's call to launch an independent counsel probe into a controversial military investigation regarding the death of a Marine last year. 

The main opposition DP on Tuesday held a rally in front of the National Assembly building as it appeared certain that Yoon would exercise his veto power later in the day.

DP chair Lee Jae-myung during the event told reporters that President Yoon is only proving that he is responsible for the matter by refusing the independent counsel probe. 

Referencing President Yoon's remark in the past that "the one who refuses a probe is the perpetrator," the opposition chief said that the president should be held responsible now that he has confessed to his crime. 

The DP chief said the president is actively engaging in anti-national activities that not only ignore the people but also challenge them. 

The opposition leader said that the Yoon is like a sailboat in front of a big wave in the face of the people’s wrath and the judgment of history. 

With the independent counsel probe, the DP is seeking to shed light on suspicions that ranking government officials interfered in the military's investigation into the death of a Marine last year in an effort to protect the top brass in the Marine Corps.