South Korea's parliament overrode a presidential veto yesterday -- the first such vote in nearly half a century -- to open an independent investigation into corruption allegations against former aides of embattled President Roh Moo-hyun.
The move deepens a showdown between the opposition-dominated parliament and a Roh government increasingly besieged by scandal.
Roh outraged lawmakers last week when he vetoed legislation to appoint an independent counsel to look into corruption charges against three former staffers.
Opposition parties boycotted the National Assembly, freezing deliberation on next year's government budget and the country's plan to send up to 3,000 troops to Iraq to help US forces there.
Yesterday's override, the first since 1954, was carried live on national television. It not only clears the way for the probe, but puts parliament back on track to handle those issues and 1,100 other bills pending.
Wheeled in the chambers for the vote was a gaunt Choe Byung-ryol, head of the main opposition Grand National Party. On Day Nine of a hunger strike against Roh's veto, he appeared in a wheelchair yesterday apparently to underline his weakened condition and dedication to the cause.
The nation's three opposition parties hold a combined 219 seats in the 272-member National Assembly, more than the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto. The parliament initially had passed the bill with more than two-thirds support, and it passed again yesterday with a vote of 209 to 54.
"It is regretful to set a negative precedent of interfering with the prosecution's right to investigate for political purposes," Roh's spokesman Yoon Tae-young said.
Roh said he vetoed the legislation because it was premature to appoint an independent counsel while an investigation by state prosecutors continued.
The opposition says it cannot trust state prosecutors. It believes an independent counsel's probe would highlight shady dealings of Roh's government and boost opposition chances in April's parliamentary elections.
Choi Do-sool, Roh's aide for 20 years, was arrested last month and accused of receiving 1.1 billion won (US$956,000) in bribes from SK Group, a scandal-plagued South Korean conglomerate.
Two other former presidential aides, Lee Kwang-jae and Yang Gil-seung, are also accused of accepting bribes and illegal donations for Roh's election campaign last year. They deny any wrongdoing.
On the eve of the vote, Roh suffered another embarrassment when prosecutors arrested a key campaign backer.
Kang Keum-won, a businessman who owns a textile company in South Korea and is a major financial supporter of Roh, was arrested late Wednesday night on charges of tax evasion and misappropriating 5 billion won (US$4.1 million) in company money between 1999 and last year, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said they are also investigating 950 million won (US$792,000) the businessman lent to Seon Bong-sul, a childhood friend of Roh's, during last year's presidential campaign, a move local media say may have violated political funding laws.
Roh has been grappling with scandals involving his aides and a hostile parliament since he took office in February. Hoping for a fresh popular mandate to rejuvenate his political reform programs, Roh proposed a referendum on his tenure and promised to resign if he fares poorly.
But it is uncertain whether such a referendum can take place, amid disputes over its legality. Opposition leaders have said they would support the vote only after a full investigation into Roh's aides is complete.
Roh's approval ratings are weak, but polls still indicate South Koreans would support him in a referendum for the sake of political stability.
The last time the parliament overrode a veto was in 1954 when then-president Syngman Rhee dismissed a criminal procedure bill allowing the legislature to demand the release of a lawmaker in custody. Lawmakers said it was needed to prevent the government from exploiting judicial power to suppress the opposition.
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