One Week Left for the Formation of the Public Corruption Investigation Office Personnel Committee... Will Chief Kim Proceed with 'Independent Operation'?

One Month Since the Launch of the Public Corruption Investigation Office... Director Kim's Decision May Come by the End of This Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HCIA) is accelerating the personnel composition as it marks one month since its launch. Although the opposition party's recommendation for the Personnel Committee to select prosecutors is delayed, internally, there is also consideration of the possibility that Director Kim Jin-wook may independently operate the Personnel Committee.

On the 17th, the HCIA officially requested the opposition party to submit recommendations for the Personnel Committee by the 28th. The Personnel Committee consists of seven members: the director, the deputy director, two members recommended by each ruling and opposition party, and external members appointed by the director. The Democratic Party of Korea recommended lawyers Na Ki-joo and Oh Young-jung on the 10th. However, the People Power Party did not make recommendations, stating that the Democratic Party should first proceed with recommending the Blue House Special Inspector and the North Korean Human Rights Foundation directors before recommending Personnel Committee members.

However, Article 9, Paragraph 6 of the HCIA Act stipulates that "matters necessary for the composition and operation of the Personnel Committee shall be determined by the investigation agency's regulations." The "HCIA Prosecutor Personnel Regulations" also state that "recommendations for Personnel Committee members can be requested in writing, and each negotiation group must recommend members within the requested deadline." Therefore, it is not impossible to form the Personnel Committee excluding the People Power Party's nominees.

Director Kim also responded during last month's National Assembly confirmation hearing to the question, "If the opposition party's recommendation for Personnel Committee members is delayed, will you proceed with the committee with five members?" by saying, "I naturally expect cooperation from the opposition party members, and if so, there is no reason to proceed forcibly." Furthermore, Director Kim directly mentioned the possibility of independently operating the Personnel Committee. On the 17th, he said, "(Independent operation) cannot be ruled out," but added, "However, it is right to uphold the spirit of bipartisan agreement." He added, "After all, the law stipulates that both ruling and opposition parties recommend two Personnel Committee members each, which was agreed upon," implying that a decision by Director Kim may be required by the end of this month.

The personnel composition work is proceeding as scheduled. Applications for prosecutor and investigator recruitment closed with a high competition rate of about 10 to 1. For the recruitment of 25 public service positions such as administrative assistants, drivers, and security personnel, 488 applicants applied, reportedly causing a delay in the announcement date of the document screening results.

Document screening for the 233 applicants who applied for the open prosecutor recruitment has begun. The plan is to check only basic aspects during document screening and interviews, and unless there are disqualifying reasons, to pass all candidates to the Personnel Committee without elimination. Director Kim said, "Prosecutor interviews are expected to be held as early as the end of this month or early next month," adding, "Due to the large number of candidates, interviews are likely to extend into next month, but we will expedite the process as much as possible."

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