Democratic Party: "We will not be held back or miss the opportunity"... Drive to Launch the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (공수처)

Yun Hojung, Chairman of the Legislation Committee, "If the United Party Does Not Respond, It Will Justify Legal Amendments"

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae (center) is taking a commemorative photo at the public hearing on "Directions for Establishing the Corruption Investigation Office for Advanced Investigation Organization" held on the afternoon of the 25th at the International Conference Hall of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. From the left, Nam Ki-myung, Head of the Preparatory Team for the Establishment of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, Minister Choo, and Lee Chan-hee, President of the Korean Bar Association. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The Democratic Party of Korea has announced its policy not to be hindered by the opposition party or miss the opportunity in the process of resolving national tasks caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

They plan to pass the third supplementary budget (supplementary budget) this week, citing the hardships faced by the public due to the COVID-19 aftermath, and to take the first step toward launching the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HOCI) starting next week. Although the United Future Party is boycotting the National Assembly and does not recognize the HOCI, the Democratic Party intends to do what it can within the possible scope. Following the breakdown of negotiations over the National Assembly's organization, political turmoil is expected over the launch of the HOCI.

The HOCI Act stipulates that the candidate recommendation committee for the HOCI chief be composed of seven members, two of whom are allocated to the opposition party negotiation group. Since a candidate can only be recommended to the president with the consent of six members, if the United Future Party, the sole opposition negotiation group, does not participate, the launch of the HOCI itself becomes difficult.

Recently, Democratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan announced that he would not hesitate to amend the law as an "extraordinary measure" for this reason. However, for now, they are waiting for the United Future Party to recommend members to the recommendation committee, keeping the amendment of the HOCI Act as a last resort. They do not intend to wait indefinitely. They plan to launch the recommendation committee with just five members excluding the United Future Party's recommendations. They intend to open the door and start.

Baek Hye-ryun, a Democratic Party lawmaker and the ruling party's secretary of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said, "If the recommendation committee is formed and discussions begin, the United Future Party may criticize it, but they will also be conscious of public opinion that it is 'stalling'." She added, "Amending the HOCI Act is not something to be done now; it is an issue to be judged later." However, there is a possibility that Speaker Park Byeong-seok may not accept a recommendation committee without the United Future Party and may attempt to mediate dialogue, potentially delaying the formation of the committee somewhat.

Yoon Ho-jung, a Democratic Party lawmaker and chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, appeared on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" on the 2nd and said, "If the United Future Party does not respond, it will actually become difficult to launch the HOCI. In that case, the United Future Party is providing justification for amending the HOCI Act."

He continued, "I think the Speaker should urge more so that the launch can proceed properly," adding, "The HOCI Act's supplementary provisions stipulate what can be done before the launch deadline of the 15th. Preparatory acts such as appointing related officials can be carried out, so if the National Assembly hurries and cooperates with the preparations, the HOCI can be launched on July 15."

The United Future Party maintains a tough stance. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, appeared on a KBS broadcast the previous day and said, "The HOCI Act has fatal procedural defects and is unconstitutional because it does not conform to the principle of separation of powers or the constitutional system." He also mentioned that a constitutional complaint ruling is pending. It seems unlikely that they will immediately propose candidates for the HOCI chief recommendation committee.

Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People's Party, also criticized on the same day, saying, "If the HOCI Act is changed to seize the opposition party's right to recommend public office candidates and appoint people who serve the regime, this will be an unforgivable crime that destroys the legislature and democracy and will go down in history."

Meanwhile, President Moon Jae-in's approval rating for his administration has fallen for six consecutive weeks, breaking below the 50% mark for the first time in 15 weeks. Realmeter announced on the day that, based on a public opinion survey conducted from June 29 to July 1 commissioned by tbs, the positive evaluation of President Moon's administration dropped by 3.9 percentage points from the previous week's weekly aggregate to 49.4%.

Regarding party support, the Democratic Party of Korea recorded 38.1%, down 3.1 percentage points from the previous week. This is the first time in 20 weeks since the second week of February (39.9%) that the party's support has fallen into the 30% range. The United Future Party rose 1.9 percentage points to 30.0%, returning to the 30% range for the first time in 14 weeks since the fourth week of March (30.0%).

This survey contacted 38,370 voters aged 18 and over nationwide, with a final 1,507 respondents completing the survey, resulting in a response rate of 3.9%. The sampling error is ±2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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