South Korea's parliament passes special counsel bills to probe Yoon's insurrection, wife's scandals

SEOUL -- South Korea's parliament on Thursday passed bills to appoint special counsels and probe the ousted president Yoon Suk-yeol's insurrection charge and scandals involving his wife, Kim Keon-hee.

Of the 198 National Assembly lawmakers attending the parliamentary plenary session, 194 voted for the bills with three dissents and one abstention.

Under the bills, the newly elected President Lee Jae-myung is required to appoint an independent counsel per case among two candidates recommended by the ruling liberal Democratic Party and the left-leaning Rebuilding Korea Party.

Subject to the special investigation will be insurrection charges against Yoon, who was removed from office in April following his botched martial law bid last December.

Scandals of Yoon's wife to be investigated will be allegations of stock price manipulation, receiving luxury handbags, interference in candidate nominations for the 2022 by-elections and the 2024 parliamentary elections and opinion polls rigging during the 2022 presidential election.