S.Korea's Yoon blocks new probe of 2022 Halloween crowd crush

General view of the memorial altar for victims before a press conference against the government’s decision to veto a special bill for the Itaewon disaster that killed over 150 people, in Seoul, South Korea, January 30, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol blocked on Tuesday a bill to launch a new probe into a Halloween crowd crush that killed 159 people in Seoul's Itaewon district in 2022, in a move slammed by the opposition and relatives of the victims.

Yoon's office announced his veto of conducting an investigation with an independent panel hours after the prime minister described the opposition-backed bill as politicised and potentially in breach of the constitution.