With Launch Days Away, Nomination of Corruption Investigation Office Chief Still in Limbo After Three Weeks

The Investigation Office for Corruption Crimes (a new government agency specializing in investigating major crimes involving public officials or corporations) is set to open in two days, on October 2, yet the nomination of its first chief has been adrift for more than three weeks. The presidential office has still not sent the request for a confirmation hearing (a National Assembly procedure to vet the fitness of senior public officials) for nominee Kim Ji-yong to the National Assembly, and voices of concern over the delay are rising even within the ruling party. With the launch date approaching, the post of chief remains vacant for longer and longer.

On the 7th, Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung nominated former Prosecutor General-level prosecutor Kim Ji-yong as the first chief of the investigation office to President Lee Jae-myung, and the presidential office assessed him as well-qualified. However, when some members of the Democratic Party and the Cho Kuk Innovation Party raised objections on the grounds that he is a former prosecutor seen as having pro-Yoon Suk Yeol leanings, additional vetting was carried out on the president's orders. Although the presidential office has completed the additional vetting, no appointment has been made. The presidential office is reportedly gauging the extent of backlash from prosecutors-reform factions within the ruling camp and its support base if it proceeds, and reviewing ways to minimize it.

Pressure from the opposition is more direct. People Power Party floor leader Jung Jeong-sik urged an immediate decision on Kim's nomination, saying the personnel authority is stuck in the worst lame-duck state, held hostage by hard-liners in the ruling party. Prolonged deliberation, he added, would only poison the agency's successful launch, and it may be better to withdraw the nomination and find a new candidate. Cho Kuk Innovation Party leader Shin Chang-sik interpreted the presidential office's failure to send the hearing request as a signal that the nominee should step down voluntarily.

With just two days until the launch, the fate of the first chief remains undecided. The presidential office's additional vetting is effectively complete. Whether to resend the hearing request or replace the nominee now rests on President Lee's decision.