Jin Joong-kwon "The Corruption Investigation Office Will Ultimately Become a Boomerang... Do You Think It Will Be Fixed When the Regime Changes?"

"A Sword Called Prosecution in One Hand, Another Sword Called Public Corruption Investigation Office in the Other"

Jin Joong-kwon, former professor at Dongyang University / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] As the amendment to the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HCIO) Act passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 10th, former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon criticized it, saying, "In the end, it will all become a boomerang."

On the same day, Jin wrote on his Facebook, "The core of this amendment is to nullify the opposition party's veto power and lower the qualification requirement from 10 years to 7 years," adding, "Removing the 'opposition party's veto power' ultimately means appointing the HCIO chief with their own people, and relaxing the qualification requirements means filling the investigative personnel with their own people as well."

He continued, "When the administration changes, even the People Power Party, which is currently opposing it with their lives, will not consider revising the HCIO Act. There is no reason to do so," and pointed out, "Why would anyone refuse to wield the sword of the prosecution in one hand and the sword of the HCIO in the other?"

Former professor Jin also dismissed the ruling party's claim that "the HCIO is an institution to check prosecutorial power" as "ridiculous."

He said, "Whether it's the Prosecutor General or the HCIO chief, they are their own people, so there is no way it can serve as a check," and questioned, "Even if a bug like Yoon Seok-yeol appears, if the prosecution doesn't obey, they will strike with the HCIO, and if the HCIO doesn't obey, they will strike with the prosecution, won't they?"

He emphasized, "Ultimately, the problem is not the prosecution but the imperial presidential system," and "No matter how the system is designed, power can always neutralize that system."

However, Jin concluded his post by saying, "Still, we should take comfort in the fact that there are two lawmakers who kept their conscience," calling them "precious survivors among zombies."

On the 10th, the partial amendment bill on the establishment and operation of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) was passed at the plenary session held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. / Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, the National Assembly passed the HCIO Act amendment in the plenary session on the same day with 187 votes in favor, 99 against, and 1 abstention. Previously, the opposition party had applied a filibuster (unlimited debate) in the last plenary session of the regular National Assembly on the 9th to block the vote on the bill. However, the HCIO Act amendment passed the plenary session on the first day of the extraordinary National Assembly on the 10th.

The amendment to the HCIO Act mainly relaxes the criteria for recommending the HCIO chief candidate from "approval by at least 6 out of 7 recommendation committee members" to "at least two-thirds of the quorum," and lowers the qualification requirement for HCIO prosecutors from 10 years as a lawyer to 7 years.

Accordingly, concerns were raised that the opposition party's veto power could be weakened. This is because the ruling party can adopt an HCIO chief candidate if it receives recommendations from the rest of the HCIO chief candidate recommendation committee without the two members allocated to the opposition party.

Meanwhile, in the plenary session vote on the same day, the Democratic Party and the Justice Party voted 'in favor' as party positions, but Democratic Party lawmaker Cho Eung-cheon and Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young were absent and abstained, respectively.

When asked by reporters about his absence from the vote, lawmaker Cho said, "I acted in accordance with my previous stance and what best fits my position."

Meanwhile, lawmaker Jang wrote on Facebook that "Prosecutorial reform for democracy must be carried out in the most democratic way," and criticized, "The amendment to the HCIO Act that nullifies the opposition party's veto power violates the democratic principle that 'the first law-abiding entity should be the legislature, the National Assembly.'"

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