Cho Eung-cheon on the 'Abolition of the Civil Affairs Office': "Throwing out the baby with the bathwater"

"Confidence in Control Without Formal Channels"
"Both Yoon and Lee Must Conduct Daejang-dong Special Investigation"
"Abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality? Pros and Cons Must Be Discussed in Public Forums"

Cho Eung-cheon, Emergency Response Committee Member of the Democratic Party of Korea
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jeong-wan] Cho Eung-cheon, Emergency Response Committee member of the Democratic Party of Korea, commented on President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's plan to abolish the Blue House's Civil Affairs Office, saying, "It seems like they want to abolish the entire Civil Affairs Office because of the Anti-Corruption Secretary's Office, but I think they might be throwing out the baby with the bathwater."

On the 15th, Cho appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and questioned the abolition of the Civil Affairs Office and the prosecution chief's investigative command authority, which Yoon pledged during his campaign, saying, "Civil Affairs is about gathering public sentiment, the Public Service Discipline Secretary verifies high-ranking officials, and the legal advisory function is also included. How will these functions be handled?"

Regarding the abolition of the Ministry of Justice Minister's investigative command authority, he said, "It seems to mean that the prosecution will be subject only to judicial control and operate accordingly," adding, "If we interpret this somewhat cynically, it could also be seen as an expression of confidence that 'I can unofficially control the prosecution during my five-year term without going through formal channels.'"

He said, "(President-elect Yoon) is a former Prosecutor General, so he knows the Civil Affairs Office very well and is confident that it is unnecessary," and pointed out, "The reason for abolishing the Civil Affairs Office is to eliminate the investigation and intelligence functions, but if that's the case, only the Anti-Corruption Secretary's Office should be abolished."

Regarding the term of current Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, he said, "Guaranteeing the term of the Prosecutor General is directly related to neutrality and independence," and added, "I believe guaranteeing Kim's term aligns with his words and actions."

On the special prosecutor investigation into the Daejang-dong development project favoritism allegations, he said, "All allegations raised against President-elect Yoon and former candidate Lee Jae-myung should be investigated by a special prosecutor. It is difficult to directly investigate or prosecute a sitting president, but it is possible until just before taking office," adding, "It is not good for either President-elect Yoon or former candidate Lee to let things slide just because the election is over."

Regarding the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Cho emphasized, "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is not something you can just cut in half like rice cake. That is too radical," and stressed, "We need to calmly consider the positive and negative functions of the ministry in a public forum."

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