Hardliners Call for Withdrawal of Kim Ji-yong's Nomination

Hardline figures in the Democratic Party of Korea, including Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae, on the 29th described Kim Ji-yong, the nominee to lead the new Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (an agency tasked with investigating crimes by large corporations and senior officials), as an 'informant' and called for the withdrawal of his nomination. While the Democratic Party waged an all-out offensive across factions against Chief Justice Cho Hee-de's rejection of the re-appointment of Supreme Court justices, it is showing cracks over the appointment of the head of the Corruption Investigation Office, the centerpiece of prosecutorial reform. According to political circles on the 29th, within the party there are simultaneously assessments that Kim is the right person to complete prosecutorial reform and criticism that he is a figure who will create a 'second prosecutors' office.'

Kim began his career as a prosecutor in 1999 and previously served as chief of the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office, head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Affairs Bureau, and deputy chief prosecutor of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office. He was nominated to be the first head of the Corruption Investigation Office, which is set to take over investigations of serious crimes including corruption, economic offenses, defense industry misconduct, narcotics, insurrection, and foreign exchange crimes after the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office.

The hardliners' backlash stems from his prosecutorial record. Governor Choo called the nominee 'someone who abandoned judicial justice within the organization and walked in upside-down shoes,' demanding the nomination be withdrawn. Rep. Kim Yong-min pointed out that if former prosecutors fill not only the office's top post but also its leadership, the indictment review body and the Corruption Investigation Office could become personally intertwined. Supreme Council member Lee Sung-yoon also stressed, 'We must not create a second prosecutors' office.'

Opposition voices have continued across the broader ruling camp. Kim Jun-hyung, floor leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, demanded on the 27th that Kim's nomination be withdrawn or that he step down voluntarily, while party leader Shin Jang-sik criticized the appointment as 'not prosecutorial reform but a prosecutorial rebranding.'

The party leadership has expressed concern about public dissent expressed without internal party procedures. Party leader Kim Min-seok said on the 22nd, 'If statements are made publicly without going through internal procedures, how would we be any different from the opposition?' Supreme Council member Jun Yong-gi also voiced concern over public pressure being applied before the president has reached a decision.

The government had originally planned to begin the confirmation hearing process in mid-this-month, but the process has been on hold since President Lee Jae-myung ordered further vetting. With the Corruption Investigation Office set to launch on October 2, attention is focused on the final decision by the president and the Blue House.