President Lee Jae-myung orders additional verification of Kim Ji-yong, candidate for the head of the Heavy Water Investigation Service

It was reported on the 14th that President Lee Jae-myung ordered additional verification of lawyer Ji-yong Kim, who was nominated as a candidate for the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office.

It is noteworthy that this is a time when there is opposition, especially from hardliners in the ruling party, who argue that Attorney Kim's appointment is contradictory to prosecution reform.

Previously, Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung proposed Attorney Kim as the first candidate for the head of the Central Investigation Agency on the 7th, and the Blue House announced that President Lee has decided to nominate Attorney Kim as a candidate and will soon request a personnel hearing from the National Assembly.

However, as of now, about a week has passed, and no request for a personnel hearing has been made to the National Assembly.

In relation to this, an official from the ruling party said, "The recommendation was made during President Lee's state visit to France, and I understand that additional verification is being done as President Lee instructed that he should look into various facts a little more after returning to Korea."

As Attorney Kim has publicly argued in the past for the need to maintain the prosecution's right to supplementary investigation, there are voices from the Democratic Party of Korea calling for further verification of the candidate's thoughts on prosecution reform.

In addition, Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae attended the '2026 Gyeonggi-do Democracy Movement Victims Memorial Service' held at the Democratic Martyrs' Cemetery in Moran Park, Namyangju on the 12th. Mentioning Attorney Kim's past history of being in the investigative line of the 'Kim Hak's departure ban case', Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae criticized, "It is the height of contradiction to put a person who has made a habit of distorting distortions in a position where he must conduct a good investigation."

Governor Chu also emphasized, "If a person who was in the same boat as Han Dong-hoon becomes the first head of the Central Investigation Agency, is that democratization? Is it changing the country? Is it serving the will of the sovereign people? So democratization is by no means over."

However, an official from the ruling party explained that President Lee's 'order for additional verification' was made immediately after President Lee returned to Korea from his visit to France on the 10th, and is not directly related to Governor Chu's comments.

Meanwhile, regarding whether additional verification of Attorney Kim will be conducted, the Blue House only stated, "It is difficult to confirm personnel-related matters."