Opposition: "Audit Board's Complaint Against Jeon Hyun-hee Cannot Constitute Abuse of Power... Clear Political Repression"

Prosecutor's Office Complaint and Special Investigation Team Announced for Strong Response

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The opposition party has condemned the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) for requesting the prosecution to investigate Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, calling it a "political persecution audit by the BAI, which has become a tool of the regime, and must be held accountable."

Members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Political Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea held a press conference at the National Assembly on the 26th, stating, "The BAI requested an investigation into the Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office last Friday, the 21st. The BAI, which has already been reported to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials for pressure to resign, political audits, targeted audits, and abuse of authority, has taken another unreasonable action," they said.

According to the BAI and legal circles, on the 21st, the BAI requested an investigation into Chairperson Jeon on charges including abuse of authority. One of the allegations involves the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission's issuance of an authoritative interpretation in September 2020 stating that the prosecution's investigation into then Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and her son (regarding allegations of failure to return from military leave) could not be seen as a conflict of interest. It is reported that Chairperson Jeon improperly intervened in this process.

In response, Democratic Party lawmakers challenged the allegations themselves. They said, "An authoritative interpretation is a concept where the head of the institution holds the final authority over duties, so abuse of authority cannot be established," adding, "If a lawful authoritative interpretation by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission is cited as the main charge for requesting an investigation, this is clearly political persecution."

They further countered the ruling party and the BAI, saying, "Members of the People Power Party induced a response by requesting an authoritative interpretation from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, then made baseless claims that the Chairperson's principled interpretation was politically biased, using this as a reason to pressure her to resign. This is a clear political conspiracy," and "The BAI audit and prosecution investigation request carried out in response are typical examples of abuse of authority."

They also pointed out that the authoritative interpretation at the time was based on an official document bearing the seal of Yoon Seok-youl, then Prosecutor General, saying, "The problematic document should be the one sent by President Yoon."

The lawmakers criticized the BAI for proceeding with the accusation without the resolution of the Audit Committee. They said, "According to the Audit Act, if there is no risk of flight or evidence destruction, an accusation must go through the resolution of the Audit Committee, but the BAI is ignoring this," adding, "It appears that the BAI is bypassing the Audit Committee resolution because it judges that passing through the committee is impossible under normal procedures."

Kim Jong-min, the opposition party's secretary of the Political Affairs Committee, said in a briefing after the press conference, "The BAI cannot conduct normal audit activities because it did not initiate this issue itself," and pointed out, "Where did the two cases?the West Sea public official incident and the authoritative interpretation related to former Minister Choo?originate? They started with ruling party lawmakers."

He continued, "Who would be behind this? We presume it is the Presidential Office," and condemned, "This will be a state corruption scandal greater than that of Choi Soon-sil."

They declared, "All members of the Democratic Party's Political Affairs and Legislation and Judiciary Committees will hold the BAI strictly accountable for the abuse of authority and political conspiracy audits that shake the very existence of the BAI," and added, "Furthermore, regarding the illegal acts of the triangular cartel planned by the Presidential Office and executed by the BAI and prosecution, we will respond with the strongest measures such as reporting to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and special prosecutor investigations."

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