11 Ruling and Opposition Judiciary Committee Members Visit Supreme Prosecutors' Office for On-Site Verification of Special Activity Expenses... Jang Je-won Says "Blue House Special Activity Expenses Must Also Be Verified"

On the afternoon of the 9th, Jang Je-won, a member of the People Power Party, arrived at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, for an on-site verification of special activity expenses and is answering questions surrounded by reporters. Photo by Choi Seok-jin

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 9th, members of the ruling and opposition parties of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee visited the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to conduct an on-site inspection of the prosecution's special activity expenses (Saeopbi) expenditures.

While ruling party lawmakers expressed the position that the prosecution's Saeopbi expenditures, which have been shrouded in secrecy until now, must be thoroughly investigated, opposition lawmakers criticized the ruling party for unnecessarily nitpicking the prosecution's Saeopbi, which was not subject to disclosure in the past, in order to pressure Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. In particular, People Power Party lawmaker Jang Je-won drew attention by emphasizing that the Blue House's Saeopbi should also be thoroughly verified at this opportunity.

Starting around 1:45 p.m. that day, members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from both parties arrived one after another at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, and began the on-site inspection by reviewing the Saeopbi payment details and execution documents for each frontline prosecution office under the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

At the Supreme Prosecutors' Office that day, at the request of the opposition party, an inspection of the Ministry of Justice's Saeopbi expenditures was also conducted simultaneously. At the Ministry of Justice, Vice Minister Ko Gi-young was spotted entering the Supreme Prosecutors' Office just before the lawmakers arrived.

From the ruling Democratic Party, six lawmakers including Kim Nam-guk, Kim Yong-min, Park Beom-gye, Park Ju-min, Song Ki-heon, Choi Gi-sang, and Baek Hye-ryun attended. From the opposition People Power Party, four lawmakers including Yoo Sang-beom, Yoon Han-heung, Jang Je-won, and Jeon Ju-hye attended. Kim Jin-ae from the Open Democratic Party was also present. It was reported that Baek Hye-ryun, the ruling party's Legislation and Judiciary Committee secretary, took charge of leading the Saeopbi verification team.

On the afternoon of the 9th, Kim Jin-ae, a member of the Open Democratic Party (right), arrived at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, for an on-site verification of special activity expenses. She entered the prosecution building while the press was gathered around Jeon Ju-hye, a member of the People Power Party. Photo by Choi Seok-jin

Most of the lawmakers, who arrived at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office at staggered times in their own vehicles that day, gave brief answers to questions from the waiting press, while some, like Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-guk, brushed off the press without saying much and entered the building.

In the case of Open Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Jin-ae, she quietly avoided the press and entered the building when she arrived at the entrance at the same time as People Power Party lawmaker Jeon Ju-hye, around whom the press was gathered.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min said, "There have been various allegations that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office used Saeopbi without proper documentation," adding, "We will carefully examine where the Saeopbi was spent, whether there is documentation, and whether it was used appropriately."

He especially emphasized, "It is necessary to thoroughly verify so that Saeopbi is not misused as political funds by the Prosecutor General."

Fellow party member Baek Hye-ryun also said, "Since Saeopbi is spent without receipts, only the National Assembly can verify it," and added, "We will verify the allocation method and appropriateness of Saeopbi usage."

In response, People Power Party lawmakers expressed their intention to focus on verifying the legality of the Ministry of Justice's Saeopbi usage.

People Power Party lawmaker Jeon Ju-hye said, "Saeopbi is ultimately money used for investigations, but the Ministry of Justice is not an investigative agency," adding, "We will focus on whether the Ministry of Justice's Saeopbi usage is lawful."

Meanwhile, fellow party member Jang Je-won said, "When I was the secretary of the Budget and Accounts Committee in December 2018, I insisted on verifying all special activity expenses of power institutions, but at that time, the Democratic Party said it was never subject to verification and should be allowed to be executed autonomously. I don't understand why they are now proposing to verify Saeopbi."

He continued, "I want to propose that the National Assembly's Steering Committee pass a resolution to also look into the Blue House's Saeopbi," emphasizing, "For the power institutions of the Republic of Korea to be renewed, the Blue House's Saeopbi expenditure details must also be verified."

This on-site inspection was triggered by Minister of Justice Choo Kyung-ho's remarks targeting Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol during the full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 5th, stating that "Saeopbi is used like petty cash."

At that time, Minister Choo also said that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office was facing difficulties in investigations due to insufficient Saeopbi payments. In fact, it was reported in the media that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office had recently received the largest amount of Saeopbi among the financial district prosecutors' offices in Seoul.

On the following day, the 6th, Minister Choo instructed the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Inspection Department to "promptly investigate and report on the comparative details of Saeopbi allocations and payments by each prosecution office and each department of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office compared to the same period of the previous year (including monthly details), and details of any single payment or allocation of 5 million won or more to a specific prosecutor or department, regarding the Prosecutor General's Saeopbi allocation and execution."

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