Opposition: Ministry of Justice's Establishment of 'Personnel Information Management Unit' is Illegal... "Not Only the Sword of Investigation but Also the Trigger of Personnel Decisions?"

Park Hong-geun "Without revision of the Government Organization Act, personnel and government information management by the Ministry of Justice is illegal"
Jang Je-won "Han Dong-hoon won't be Minister of Justice forever..."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Naju-seok and Lee Hyun-joo] The opposition party has opposed the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's plan to establish an ‘Personnel Information Management Unit’ under the Ministry of Justice for public official personnel verification, calling it ‘illegal.’ The ruling party defended the government, saying the opposition's resistance is due to Minister Han Dong-hoon, not the Ministry of Justice itself. Opposition lawmakers have expressed their intention to block the plan by invoking the National Assembly Act, which is expected to become another point of contention in the ongoing negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties, who are already busy with the organization of the National Assembly.

On the 25th, Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said at the ‘Joint Meeting of the Election Countermeasures Committee for National Balance and Livelihood Stability,’ "The decision to establish the Personnel Information Management Unit directly under Minister Han Dong-hoon of the Ministry of Justice is a declaration that the Ministry of Justice will become the command center for investigations," adding, "Collecting and managing personnel information by the Ministry of Justice without amending the Government Organization Act itself is a violation of the law." Park criticized, "President Yoon is giving full authority to the minister under the pretext of abolishing the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs. Not only the investigative blade but also the personnel gun barrel has been handed over. If this continues, not only the minister, who is a member of the Cabinet, but even the Prime Minister will have to serve the Minister of Justice as a supreme ruler."

Democratic Party lawmakers, including Park Joo-min from the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, held a separate press conference explaining, "According to Article 98-2 of the National Assembly Act, when presidential decrees or prime ministerial decrees are created or amended to enforce laws, they must be reported to the National Assembly. If the relevant standing committee believes they violate the Constitution or laws, they can send a position to the government after reporting to the Speaker and passing a resolution in the National Assembly." They added, "Among the Judiciary Committee members attending the press conference, there was talk of utilizing this procedure." Although not officially formalized at the Democratic Party Judiciary Committee level, they plan to review in the National Assembly whether the enforcement decrees exceed the delegated authority stipulated by law, and if there are issues, to use the National Assembly Act procedures to request the government’s position.

Lawmakers from the People Power Party’s Judiciary Committee stated that there is no problem with placing the Personnel Information Management Unit under the Ministry of Justice, citing Article 6 of the Government Organization Act, which allows delegating some jurisdictional affairs to other administrative agencies.

Jang Je-won, a People Power Party lawmaker who served as Chief of Staff during President-elect Yoon’s transition period, commented on the opposition’s backlash on social media (SNS) that day, saying, "The problem is not that the Ministry of Justice is responsible for personnel verification, but that ‘Han Dong-hoon’ is the Minister of Justice." He added, "Minister Han will not be the Minister of Justice forever, and President Yoon is certainly not someone who would entrust personnel matters solely to the Ministry of Justice."

Jang explained, "Once the police leadership reorganization is completed, it is expected that the police intelligence division will also have personnel verification functions. This way, the personnel system, which proceeds from talent recommendation to reputation checks to verification, can operate through diversified channels such as the Ministry of Personnel Innovation, the Ministry of Justice, and the police."

Additionally, Jang proposed establishing a personnel verification system within the National Intelligence Service. He clarified, "This is not a matter of political intervention but a formal way to have a personnel verification department."

Regarding this proposal, Park criticized, "If we follow Jang’s suggestion, the National Intelligence Service Act would have to be amended again. Repeating past mistakes is also unconstitutional, ultra-constitutional, and illegal," he pointed out.

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