Park Beom-gye Proposes Amendment to the Corruption Investigation Office Act... "People Power Party Has Given Up Veto Power"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, proposed an amendment to the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HCIO) Act, calling it a "declaration of waiver of the People Power Party's right to recommend and veto regarding the establishment of the HCIO."

Park, a member of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, on the 8th, despite the Speaker of the National Assembly's request, proposed an amendment to the HCIO Act that mandates appointing or commissioning a person prescribed by law as a member of the HCIO Chief Candidate Recommendation Committee if the committee members are not recommended.

Under the current HCIO Act, two members recommended by opposition negotiation groups must be included, but the People Power Party has not responded, preventing the HCIO from launching for two months since the law's enforcement.

The amendment stipulates that the Speaker of the National Assembly shall notify each negotiation group to recommend committee members within a period of 10 days, and if any negotiation group fails to recommend members within the period, the recommendation shall be replaced by the President of the Korean Association of Law Professors and the Chairperson of the Council of Law Schools, who are among the members of the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee under the Court Organization Act.

Park said, "Failing to fulfill the obligation to recommend members and to form the committee under the current law not only violates the legal obligations but can also be seen as voluntarily waiving the right to recommend members and rejecting the veto right related to recommending HCIO chief candidates," adding, "Considering the legal maxim 'He who sleeps on his rights shall not be protected,' it is necessary to prevent the committee's formation from becoming impossible due to such voluntary waiver of rights and failure to fulfill legal obligations."

He continued, "The establishment of the HCIO is the people's mandate," and said, "Through the amended law, we will ensure that the appointment of the HCIO Chief proceeds smoothly so that the HCIO, which secures political neutrality and independence and is the people's aspiration, can be established without fail."

In addition to Park, the amendment was co-proposed by Kang Jun-hyun, Kim Nam-guk, Kim Seung-won, Kim Jin-pyo, Kim Hong-gul, Moon Jin-seok, Min Hyung-bae, Shin Jeong-hoon, Yang Kyung-sook, Yoon Gun-young, Yoon Young-chan, Yoon Jun-byeong, Lee Gyu-min, Lee Su-jin (Dongjak-eul), Lee Yong-bin, Lee Hae-sik, Jeong Jeong-sun, Jeong Pil-mo, Heo Jong-sik, Hong Ki-won, and Hwang Un-ha.

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