Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties raised concerns during a parliamentary audit over what they called the "partial launch" of South Korea's new Major Crimes Investigation Agency. Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung said he was "deeply sorry" that the agency began operating without its first commissioner in place and with only 66% of its authorized staff filled.
Questions about the agency's launch dominated the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 6th. The agency began operations on the 2nd with the post of first commissioner vacant. The ministry recommended attorney Kim Ji-yong, a former prosecutor, as its nominee for first commissioner on Sept. 7, and President Lee Jae-myung named him as the nominee the following day. But the request for a confirmation hearing was delayed and was not submitted to the National Assembly until Oct. 1.
Both parties expressed concern about the leadership vacuum. Asked by Rep. Kwon Young-jin of the People Power Party and Rep. Kim Young-bae of the Democratic Party of Korea why the confirmation hearing request had been delayed, Yoon said the ministry had "done its utmost to proceed step by step with care and without shortcomings, because this is a momentous task that reorganizes the criminal justice system for the first time in 70 years."
The opposition pressed the minister on the agency's political neutrality. When Rep. Joo Ho-young of the People Power Party said that seven senior investigators, including Deputy Commissioner Jeon Jong-min, were weighted toward figures friendly to the administration, Yoon countered, "Are you saying we should bring in Yoon Suk-yeol's prosecutors?" When Rep. Park Sang-woong of the People Power Party suggested the government was "trying to build an investigative body that suits the administration's taste," Yoon dismissed the claim, saying, "There is not the slightest such intention."
Park also argued that the split of former prosecutors between the new Public Prosecution Office and the investigation agency makes it hard to call the change a genuine separation of investigation and prosecution. Yoon replied that "many problems arose precisely because a single prosecutor or the prosecution service held both investigative and indictment powers." Asked whether he intended to merge the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials with the new agency, he said, "First we divide the prosecution service into an indicting body and an investigating body and let that settle in. After that, if it is deemed necessary, a merger of the CIO and the investigation agency is something that could be reviewed."
Ruling party lawmakers called for the remaining positions to be filled with people from outside the prosecution service. When Rep. Lee Sang-sik of the Democratic Party raised the issue, Yoon said, "It is not that we intend to penalize people simply for having come from the prosecution service," but added that "those who have become too accustomed to special investigations and who learned techniques of fabricated and buried investigations will be left behind at the prosecution service." He said 15% of the agency's authorized staff would later be filled through career-based competitive hiring of former police officers, lawyers and accountants, while the remaining 10% would be left open for new hires next year.
The committee also took up the decline in local government grants resulting from the creation of a new future response fund. Under a revised calculation method taking effect next year, local allocation grants are projected to fall by about 30.6 trillion won from the previous formula. Rep. Park Jung-hyun of the Democratic Party pointed to reduced flexibility in local finances, while Rep. Kwon Young-jin of the People Power Party warned of the potential for tighter fiscal control by the central government. Yoon said the ministry is "drawing up plans on the principle of covering the full project cost wherever possible, so that local governments bear no matching burden" through the fund's local account.
