Anchor: The main opposition party has blocked the ruling party from taking part in the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate suspicions related to first lady Kim Keon-hee. On Thursday the Democratic Party made changes to a 2014 law depriving the ruling party of any role in selecting an independent counsel for investigations targeting the president or the president’s family. 
Kim Bum-soo has more.  

Report: 
[Sound bite: National Assembly plenary session (Nov. 28)] 
With a majority in the parliament, the main opposition Democratic Party on Thursday passed revisions to a 2014 law to exclude the ruling party from the process of nominating a special prosecutor in cases concerning the president’s family.  

Ruling People Power Party lawmakers argued that the move will damage the neutrality and independence of special counsel investigations going forward. 

The Democratic Party is seeking to invoke the Act on the Appointment of Independent Prosecutor, under which it can launch a briefer investigation with a total of five prosecutors for up to 90 days against first lady Kim Keon-hee.

Earlier this week, President Yoon Suk Yeol exercised his veto power again and rejected a special law that would have mandated a full-scale independent counsel probe against his wife.

But the president cannot squelch a special probe based on a law that already exists, although he may opt not to appoint an independent prosecutor of the opposition’s choice, according to legal experts. 

While the focus of the full-scale investigations would be Kim’s suspected role in a stock manipulation scheme and involvement in an election nomination scandal, the envisioned briefer investigation would deal with issues of lesser gravity, including her refusal to attend the parliamentary audit. 

While paving the way for the briefer probe, the Democratic Party also plans to make another attempt to pass the special law authorizing a full-scale investigation, as the vetoed bill will be put to a revote in less than two weeks.  

Holding just over a third of the seats in the National Assembly, the ruling party believes it can vote down the bill, which requires two-thirds support.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.