Ahn Cheol-soo: "The Corruption Investigation Office Has Degraded into a Detective Agency, It's Ridiculous... Will Abolish Immediately Upon Taking Power"

"Investigation Skills Zero, Muzzling Critical Media, Conducting Backdoor Investigations on Opposition?The Public Corruption Investigation Office Cannot Be Allowed to Continue"

Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, visited Incheon Medical Center in Dong-gu, Incheon on the afternoon of the 30th to receive a briefing on the current status of the medical center. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, expressed his position on the controversy over the High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Unit (Gongsoocheo)'s 'surveillance of journalists,' stating, "If I come to power, I will immediately abolish Gongsoocheo."

On the 31st, Ahn posted on his Facebook, saying, "Gongsoocheo, which has degenerated into an intelligence agency for the ruling power, should be abolished immediately. The behavior of Gongsoocheo, which started amid opposition party protests and public concerns, is ridiculous."

He strongly criticized, "Every warrant they requested was dismissed, and they couldn’t find a single proper piece of evidence, yet they were snooping on the communication records of innocent people."

He continued, "What Gongsoocheo is doing looks laughable, but their actions are very serious," and pointed out, "The biggest problem is that Gongsoocheo is not just checking who the suspect talked to, but is identifying private individuals and extracting call lists."

He added, "Under the guise of legality, they carried out extensive surveillance not only on journalists but also on the families of journalists. This method is usually used in investigations to completely dismantle criminal groups like voice phishing gangs."

Ahn raised his voice, saying, "Journalists who were surveilled were effectively censored in their call records after writing articles unfavorable to Gongsoocheo," and "This is an unprecedented incident where even intelligence agencies, which had been cautious since democratization in 1987, blatantly engaged in such acts."

He emphasized, "This surveillance has revealed that Gongsoocheo is an enemy of democracy. It has clearly shown what privatization of power looks like," and "If I come to power, I will push for the immediate abolition of Gongsoocheo."

He concluded, "With zero investigative skills, gagging critical media, and conducting background checks on opposition parties, Gongsoocheo cannot be allowed to continue existing," and said, "'Gongjeukpaedap' (Gongsoocheo abolition is the answer), Gongsoocheo must be abolished immediately."

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