Park Ju-min on Geum Tae-seop's Abstention from the Corruption Investigation Office Vote: "I Understand the Concern but It's Regrettable"

Park Ju-min, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Heo Midam] Park Jumin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed regret toward Kim Tae-seop, a Democratic Party member who abstained from voting on the establishment bill of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HOCI), saying, "I understand the concerns, but there are some disappointing aspects."

On the 2nd, on YTN Radio's 'Noh Young-hee's Start of a New Morning,' Park said, "Everyone may have different thoughts, but once the party's stance is decided through a procedure, it is necessary to somewhat follow that. From that perspective, there is some regret."

Regarding the HOCI bill, he said, "It is meaningful that an organization has been created to address the decades-long issue of high-ranking officials' corruption crimes not being properly investigated," adding, "Also, with the monopoly of prosecutorial power broken, an organization capable of mutual checks and balances has been established."

In response to speculation that the HOCI bill was created to limit investigations, he denied, saying, "No. Some say the bill was pushed to curb recent prosecutorial investigations. However, the fast-track designation was in April last year. Preparations for the fast-track designation began early last year. At that time, the investigations related to the Yoon Seok-yeol administration being discussed now were not happening."

Geum Tae-seop, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Regarding the relaxation of the qualification requirements for HOCI prosecutors from 'over 10 years of experience in trials, investigations, or research work' to 'over 5 years,' he pointed out, "Most special prosecutors can be appointed with just over 7 years of lawyer experience. However, the HOCI prosecutors being launched now require over 10 years of lawyer experience, and among those 10 years, 5 years must be in trial, investigation, or research work," adding, "So, this demands much stronger qualifications than many special prosecutors before. I cannot understand how this can be called a relaxation."

He continued, "Judges are also selected from those with over 5 years of lawyer experience. The HOCI prosecutors have even stricter requirements. If this is called a relaxation, I don't know how they expect to select people."

Regarding the first HOCI chief, he expressed concern, saying, "The appointment procedure requires a seven-member HOCI chief recommendation committee to reach a unanimous decision. In other words, the chief must be someone agreed upon even by the opposition," adding, "So, I worry that the person might be so neutral as to be colorless and odorless." He then said, "There is no doubt the person will be neutral."

Meanwhile, on the 30th of last month, the HOCI establishment bill passed the National Assembly plenary session. HOCI is an organization that investigates 'crimes committed by high-ranking officials related to their duties.' The investigation targets include the president, members of the National Assembly, the Chief Justice and justices of the Supreme Court, the Chief and justices of the Constitutional Court, the Prime Minister and political officials in the Prime Minister's Secretariat, political officials of the Central Election Commission, judges and prosecutors, and police officers of rank superintendent or higher.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.