President Moon Presides Over First Cabinet Meeting of the New Year... Approval of the Public Corruption Investigation Office Enforcement Decree

Partial Mixed-Member Proportional Representation, Lowering Voting Age to 18, and Other Public Official Election Act Promulgation Bills Passed... "Accelerate Preparation for the Corruption Investigation Office Act"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] At the first Cabinet meeting of the year presided over by President Moon Jae-in, the Act on the Establishment and Operation of the High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Office (HCIO) was promulgated.

President Moon presided over the 1st Cabinet meeting of 2020 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. on the 7th at the Sejong Room in the Blue House main building. At this Cabinet meeting, two laws including the HCIO Act, two bills including the Act on Prevention of Conflict of Interest of Public Officials, and five presidential decrees including partial amendments to the Maternal and Child Health Act Enforcement Decree were reviewed and approved.

At today’s Cabinet meeting, two bills that were passed by the National Assembly on December 27 last year and transferred to the government on January 3 this year were decided to be promulgated in accordance with Article 53 of the Constitution.

On the morning of the 7th, the first Cabinet meeting of 2020 was held at the Blue House, presided over by President Moon Jae-in.
[Photo by Blue House]

The HCIO Act promulgation bill includes provisions to establish the “High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Office” to investigate crimes related to the duties of high-ranking public officials, and to stipulate matters concerning its composition and operation. It is scheduled to be enforced starting from July, six months after promulgation.

The Blue House expects that it will prevent crimes by high-ranking public officials and enhance the transparency of the state and the reliability of the public service community.

President Moon said, “The HCIO Act will be enforced in six months, but the preparation period is tight. Since it is a new and independent institution, there will be difficulties in overall preparations such as revising enforcement decrees, and it will take time,” adding, “Please pay attention to prepare thoroughly and swiftly without any gaps.”

The promulgation bill for the partial amendment to the Public Official Election Act aims to improve the proportional representation seat allocation method so that the number of seats held by a political party in the National Assembly can be linked to the party’s proportional representation election vote ratio, and to adjust the voting and election campaign eligibility age to 18 years or older. The Act on Prevention of Conflict of Interest of Public Officials seeks to transform the existing “Conflict of Interest Prevention Regulations,” which were previously enforced by presidential decree as a code of conduct for public officials, into a new law so that all public officials belonging to the executive, legislative, and judicial branches comply with it in conflict of interest situations.

The Blue House explained, “Public officials must report to their agency heads and may apply for recusal if they know that a person related to their duties has a private interest (Article 5 of the bill). Central administrative agencies, etc., cannot hire family members of their high-ranking officials and recruitment officers (Article 10 of the bill). Central administrative agencies, etc., cannot enter into private contracts with high-ranking officials, contract officers, their spouses, or lineal ascendants or descendants living together (Article 11 of the bill).”

On the morning of the 7th, the first Cabinet meeting of 2020 was held at the Blue House, presided over by President Moon Jae-in.
[Photo by Blue House]

Meanwhile, regarding the “Measures to Strengthen Traffic Safety in Children Protection Zones” reported by Minister of the Interior and Safety Jin Young, President Moon said, “With the enforcement of the Min-sik Act, I expect that children’s traffic safety and school zone safety will be strengthened. However, there may still be blind spots such as side roads,” and explained, “In the case of the ‘Yellow Carpet,’ it has contributed to children’s traffic safety through consultations with local governments.”

President Moon added, “If the ground is painted yellow, it is easy to identify the zone itself, and local governments can achieve considerable effects without spending much cost,” urging, “Please speed up the promotion of the ‘Yellow Carpet’ and other initiatives.”

Regarding the “Measures to Strengthen Road Traffic Safety in Winter” reported by Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi, President Moon said, “Black ice is difficult to distinguish and identify with the naked eye, which sometimes leads to major accidents,” and requested, “It may be difficult to prevent accidents with the existing speed limits, so please consider flexibly adjusting speed limits in sections prone to freezing.”

In addition, regarding the “2019 Industrial Accident Fatality Reduction Status” reported by Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap, President Moon said, “The reduction in industrial accident fatalities has been significant thanks to the Prime Minister and many others who have promoted the ‘Three Major Projects to Protect the Lives of the People,’” but urged, “Please conduct intensive safety supervision, such as prohibiting work without safety devices.”

Regarding the ‘Projects to Protect the Lives of the People,’ President Moon said, “Whether the numbers increase or decrease, please disclose them as they are and inform the public to raise their interest, and continue efforts to make it a special measure.”

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