South Korea's Yoon vetoes Bill to investigate his wife

SEOUL - President Yoon Suk-yeol on Jan 5 exercised his veto power to strike down a Bill that would let the opposition-controlled National Assembly order a special investigation into First Lady Kim Keon-hee's alleged involvement in stock manipulation.

We express a deep regret over the opposition bloc's unilateral move (to pass the Bill to investigate the first lady) without bipartisan consent," presidential chief of staff Lee Kwan-sup told reporters.

"Yoon has the obligation to veto the Bill that goes against constitutional principles."

Mr Yoon's veto came less than an hour after an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on Jan 5, presided over by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, to ask Mr Yoon to veto the Bill that was sent to the government on Jan 4 afternoon. Mr Han said the passage of the special Bill would mean the newly nominated special counsel is "unlikely to maintain political neutrality and conduct a fair investigation".