Blue House Announces Special Inspections at End of Term... People Power Party Says "Appoint a Special Inspector First"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy, Reporter Lee Jieun] The People Power Party has criticized the Blue House's announcement of special inspections across all areas of public office discipline, asking, "Is there no special inspector for the Blue House?"

Bae Joonyoung, spokesperson for the People Power Party, stated in a commentary on September 13, "This appears to be an attempt to silence internal whistleblowers at the end of the administration."

He pointed out, "It seems the administration intends to control the public sector with muscle rather than brains," adding, "Ironically, there is a special inspection within the Blue House, but there is no special inspector for the Blue House." The special inspector is an independent position responsible for overseeing the President's spouse, relatives within the fourth degree, and senior secretaries of the Presidential Secretariat.

Spokesperson Bae further criticized, "Since September 2016, the President has not appointed the legally mandated special inspector for the Blue House. Absurdly, over the past four years, 2.6 billion won in maintenance costs, including office rent for a non-existent special inspector, have been spent. Is government money so easy to waste?"

He continued, "It is said that one must cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world. Without a special inspector for the Blue House, how can the Blue House claim to manage itself through special inspections when it cannot even practice self-cultivation? Self-cultivation, that is, appointing a special inspector, must come first."

He emphasized, "If you want to establish the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, you should at least first appoint the special inspector for the Blue House."

On the same day, Park Sooyoung, a fellow party member, wrote on Facebook, "Whenever approval ratings falter at the end of an administration, the usual topics are anti-Japanese sentiment or public office discipline. Career civil servants haven't done anything particularly outstanding, but they haven't committed acts like arranging preferential military discharge for their sons or fabricating their daughters' credentials either," referring to allegations involving Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and former Justice Minister Cho Kuk.

Representative Park added, "Isn't it thanks to diligent career civil servants that Korea is at least able to function as it does? Please do not shift the blame for political failures onto career civil servants. Either take responsibility and carry the burden, or apologize and step down."

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