National Assembly sends special investigation bills to presidential office

Lawmakers watch the vote count for the two special investigation bills at the National Assembly in Seoul, Dec. 28, 2023. Yonhap

The National Assembly sent two special investigation bills, one of which calls for looking into stock manipulation allegations involving the first lady, to the presidential office Thursday.

The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol has said Yoon will veto the bills.

One of the proposals mandates an independent counsel investigation into allegations first lady Kim Keon Hee was involved in the stock manipulation of Deutsch Motors, a BMW car dealer in South Korea, between 2009 and 2012.

The other special probe proposal is about allegations that six prominent people of the so-called "5 billion club" were promised 5 billion won ($3.8 million) each from an asset management firm connected to a corruption-ridden development project in the Daejang-dong district in Seongnam, south of Seoul.

The two proposals passed through the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea-controlled parliament last week. (Yonhap)