(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Hyeong-seop and Park Gyeong-jun = As President Lee Jae-myung decides to appoint candidate Kim Ji-yong as head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency on the 1st, attention is focused on whether the controversy surrounding candidate Kim will also evolve.
Ki-hong Ki, senior secretary for public relations and communications at the Blue House, said in a briefing that day, “We plan to send a request for a confirmation hearing on Candidate Kim to the National Assembly in the near future.”
Earlier, immediately after the Ministry of Public Administration and Security nominated candidate Kim, opposition voices erupted, centering on hardliners across the ruling party, and President Lee also entered into a 'drag' by ordering additional verification, but in the end, he chose the 'head-on breakthrough' card.
This can be interpreted as a judgment that they cannot back down from this, under the recognition that the gears of this government's prosecution reform could go astray if the command tower issue is not resolved with the launch of the Central Investigation Agency just one day away.
In fact, Chief Seong emphasized, “We are entering an era of a new criminal and judicial system that separates investigation and prosecution,” and added, “It is time to stop unnecessary and wasteful debates that are causing confusion in government affairs.”
In addition, the political world is analyzing that President Lee may have taken into account the fact that if he does not appoint Candidate Kim, the government's leadership in the overall social reform work may be weakened.
If President Lee resigns from his position amid 'open opposition' from Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Yong-min, this could cause unrest among his core supporters, and there are concerns that this will have a negative impact on the overall political dynamics.
In the end, President Lee and the Blue House chose to preserve the authority of personnel authority by appointing Candidate Kim as scheduled, but instead focused on securing consensus among supporters by actively making it known that this choice did not go against the trend of reform.
It is also interpreted in the same context that Chief Seong refuted, point by point, the suspicions raised against candidate Kim by hardliners in the ruling party over the course of about 10 minutes at the briefing on this day.
Chief Seong first explained, "The claim that Candidate Kim is a so-called pro-Yoon (pro-Yun Seok-yeol) prosecutor is not correct at all. During the trial of Choi Eun-soon (former President Yoon Seok-yeol's mother-in-law), during the non-indictment decision, a re-investigation order was also issued to reopen the investigation."
Regarding the claim that Candidate Kim participated in a statement that the disciplinary action against former President Yoon was unfair while he was serving as Prosecutor General, he said, "We were concerned that the disciplinary action might not be maintained due to a flaw in the procedure," and added, "Candidate Kim's position is firm on the fact that the Prosecutor General's (former President Yoon's) actions at the time were misconduct."
Regarding the 2020 case of prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong's arbitrary assault against former prosecutor general Han Dong-hoon, he said, "Candidate Kim opposed the indictment, but it was decided by a majority vote," and regarding the suspicion that he was involved in handling the 'former Justice Minister Kim Hak-eui's illegal departure ban case', he explained, "I have never approved or directed the case."
Regarding the suspicion that former Prosecutor Han Han's cell phone forensics was thwarted during the investigation of the 'Channel A incident', he dismissed it as "an unrelated matter and clearly false information."
The Blue House's unusual rebuttal briefing like this is interpreted as reflecting the recognition that it is important to gain an advantage in the 'fight for cause' among supporters.
The general expectation is that there will be no major difficulties in the procedural aspects until the appointment of Candidate Kim.
The ruling party is expected to support the resolution of the gap in the head of the Central Investigation Agency through follow-up measures such as holding a hearing and adopting a hearing report.
Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party, appeared on the Democratic Party's YouTube channel and criticized some of the ruling party's criticism of candidate Kim, including 'prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol', saying, "If you look at the comments, there are even embarrassing cases."
In particular, since the hearing is being held at the Public Administration and Security Committee rather than the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which has lawmakers who are negative about Candidate Kim's appointment, such as Chairman Seo Young-kyo and Representative Kim Yong-min, it seems unlikely that the appointment process will be blocked in the future.
Nevertheless, it is not yet known whether the controversy will subside like this.
In an article posted on Facebook, Rep. Kim said, "After liberation, we created an anti-people special committee, but what should we do if a pro-Japanese person is appointed as the chairman?" and compared the Central Investigation Office to the anti-people special committee and candidate Kim to a pro-Japanese group, showing a sharp attitude.
Rep. Park Eun-jung of the Fatherland Innovation Party also said on Facebook, "The reason for ruminating on the past is to prevent the repetition of tragedy," and "I oppose the appointment of Candidate Kim."
There are observations that if their opposition continues even after the appointment of candidate Kim, the conflict within the ruling party may further intensify, which will also put a burden on President Lee.
