On the 11th, the ruling and opposition parties gave conflicting evaluations of Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung's order to inspect Gwangju Regional Heavy Water Agency Director Lim Eun-jeong, calling it a "common sense measure" and "a terrible self-contradiction by Yun Ho-jung."
Minister Yoon announced on social media that he would instruct the Serious Crimes Investigation Office to initiate an inspection in accordance with the Act on the Organization and Operation of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office against Director Lim, who has publicly criticized Kim Ji-yong, the first candidate for the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office.
Jo Gye-won, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, met with reporters at the National Assembly on this day and said, "It is absurd to argue over the boss's personnel issues," and "it is a common sense measure."
Spokesperson Cho explained the internal negative public opinion about Kim, the candidate for the head of the Central Investigation Agency, saying, "Any questions that have not yet been asked or verified in the hearing can be resolved through additional verification."
At the same time, he explained, “It is no longer right to continue to dispute qualifications in the media before verification, or to dispute qualifications through the media or SNS,” and added, “Representative (Kim Min-seok) strongly warned about this problem.”
Previously, Representative Kim appeared on the party's YouTube channel on the 7th and said about the hard-liners' opposition to Candidate Kim by saying, "The party said that it was time to control this issue, and I understand that they will not talk about the issue further."
On the other hand, Rep. Kang Myeong-gu of the People Power Party, the opposition secretary of the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee, said in a Facebook post, "It was the Minister of Public Administration and Security who made the decision to appoint Director Lim as the first head of the Gwangju Regional Heavy Water Service Office." He added, "He was appointed a week ago and the inspection begins in just 10 days? Minister Yoon's inspection order is a self-confessed personnel waste in 10 days."
He then criticized, saying, "Chief Commissioner Lim is a person who has frequently made political comments and actions on social media even at the prosecution, and everyone who knows Commissioner Lim even a little knows that the current situation is a disaster that was predicted," and added, "It was a mistake to appoint the world's troublemaker as one of the six first heads of the newly launched Regional Heavy Water Investigation Office."
He also pointed out, “For the Minister of Public Administration and Security to order an inspection of remarks that are not personal misconduct by an executive of the Central Investigation Agency just 10 days after the launch of the Central Investigation Agency, this could set a bad precedent that threatens the independence and political neutrality of the Central Investigation Agency as an investigative agency.”
The Fatherland Innovation Party, which has expressed its opposition to Candidate Kim, also expressed discomfort with the news of the inspection of Director Lim, saying, "It is inappropriate for the Minister of Public Administration and Security's inspection order to create an environment where one cannot confidently raise issues about Candidate Ji-yong Kim."
Park Byeong-eon, a senior spokesperson for the Innovation Party, said in a commentary that day, “What is more urgent than the inspection of Branch Director Lim Eun-jeong is how the investigation information was leaked to Han Dong-hoon.”
He added, “It is necessary to quickly organize the controversial candidates and focus on establishing separate investigation and prosecution by the Central Investigation Office and the Public Prosecution Office in the future.”
Innovation Party lawmaker Park Eun-jung also shared on Facebook an anecdote in 2020 when then-Vice Minister of Justice Ko Ki-young submitted her resignation during a time when then-Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol were in conflict over disciplinary procedures, and showed signs of discomfort with the personnel hearing for candidate Kim.
Rep. Park said, “Starting from that day, the disciplinary action against Yoon Seok-yeol completely lost its momentum,” and reflected, “This was because the Vice Minister of Justice, who was responsible for proceeding with the disciplinary committee procedures, submitted his resignation as if the disciplinary action was unfair.”
Regarding former Vice Minister Koh being selected as a witness for Candidate Kim's confirmation hearing, Rep. Park said, "What kind of verification can there be between the top contributors to creating President Yoon Seok-yeol?" and "Does it make sense for the Democratic Party government, not the People Power Party government, to set the stage for that?"
He concluded the article by saying, "Just leave history alone. The Lee Jae-myung administration is just a passing page," and added, "Someone with bright eyes in the future will accurately evaluate the history of Yoon Seok-yeol's disciplinary action and this era as well."
