Pro-Myung Faction Fights Back Against Democratic Party's Offensive on Kim Ji-yong
As the personnel confirmation hearing for Kim Ji-yong, nominee to head the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), opened at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee on the 14th, opposition lawmakers as well as members of the ruling party's pro-Myung faction and the Cho Kuk Innovation Party raised questions about Kim's fitness for the post and launched an offensive.
The first to question the nominee at the hearing was Yoon Geon-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, who raised suspicions that Kim had been involved in the past indictment of former senior prosecutor Jung Jin-woong on charges of assault in an official capacity. "In the process of the political prosecutors uniting to protect Han Dong-hoon, the nominee's cowardly choice has been revealed," Yoon criticized. Yoon, a member of the pro-Myung faction, noted that Kim had been in a clear line of approval authority as deputy chief prosecutor at the time, saying, "Boldly saying 'I signed off on it' is the attitude the public wants to see." Yoon also took issue with the fact that Kim, then a prosecutor, did not submit an objection against the indictment in the case of the unlawful travel ban on former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-eui. "The head of the CIO must stand upright before the people and exercise authority more rigorously than anyone else," he said. "The attitude the nominee is showing now is cowardly and turns a blind eye to injustice."
Jung Chung-rae of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party also emphasized, "The first CIO chief must fulfill the expectations of a public that yearned for prosecutorial reform," adding, "Kim is not that kind of person, which is why the people are opposed."
The People Power Party, for its part, focused on the infighting within the ruling camp itself. Park Duk-hyum said, "I find it odd that the confirmation hearing is being held so late because of a family feud in the ruling camp," pointing out, "There wasn't even this level of conflict during the Democratic Party's primary or its leadership race." He went on to say, "The CIO is launching without this much preparation, leaving many people anxious." Kang Myung-gu, the opposition's floor secretary on the committee, also said, "They didn't send the confirmation request for additional vetting; they just fought among themselves. The committee members who are actually supposed to hold the hearing feel like fools."
Both ruling and opposition lawmakers also spoke up over the issue of document submissions. Park Jung-hyun of the Democratic Party said he requested materials such as the CIO's operational manual but received nothing, saying, "They are repeating the very way the Supreme Prosecutors' Office once treated the National Assembly." Kwon Young-jin of the People Power Party also pointed out that the nominee had failed to submit documents that should obviously be provided, such as his records of commendations, and was not at all prepared to undergo the confirmation process.
