Prime Minister Han: "Facing 639 Trillion Won Difficulty Due to 500 Million Won Budget for Police Bureau, etc."

Prime Minister Han Deok-su: "Police Bureau and Personnel Information Management Unit Must Function as National Organizations"
"If There Was Distortion in 'Moon Government Statistics' Audit, Institutional Reform Is Necessary"
On 'Police Bureau and Personnel Management Unit' Confrontation Between Ruling and Opposition Parties: "Restored to the Executive Branch as Part of Reform"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Prime Minister Han Duck-soo expressed regret on the 20th regarding the operating budget for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Police Bureau and the Ministry of Justice’s Personnel Information Management Unit, which have emerged as contentious issues in the National Assembly’s deliberation over next year’s budget. He said, "Overall, it is a budget of about 500 million won, but because of this 500 million won, the 639 trillion won budget is facing difficulties."

At a press briefing held at the Government Complex Sejong on the morning of the same day, Prime Minister Han said, "I believe both the ruling and opposition parties have made great efforts and worked hard, and I highly appreciate that."

The ruling and opposition parties failed to reach an agreement on contentious issues such as the Police Bureau and the Personnel Information Management Unit by the deadline of the 19th set by National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo for the passage of next year’s budget.

Regarding the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Police Bureau and the Ministry of Justice’s Personnel Information Management Unit, he evaluated, "It is a very natural demand to abolish the Civil Affairs Office, which exercised considerable authority in the Presidential Office, and return it to the executive branch so that it can function as a national organization."

Prime Minister Han also explained, "I think the conclusion was reached through sufficient discussion in the National Assembly, but the opposition party still finds it difficult to accept it as a budget at this stage," adding, "Our position is that abolishing the Civil Affairs Office as part of reform and returning it to the executive branch helps enhance the transparency of the national system, so we ask for recognition."

Regarding a report by a media outlet the previous day that the government plans to revive the Public Service Inspection Unit under the Prime Minister’s Office, he explained, "There is still an organization for public service discipline inspection in the Prime Minister’s Office," and added, "Since the Civil Affairs Office of the Presidential Office has almost disappeared, discussions are underway about strengthening such functions held by the Prime Minister’s Office if necessary for government transparency."

Regarding the Board of Audit and Inspection’s audit into suspicions of distortion of major statistics such as income, employment, and housing prices during the previous Moon Jae-in administration, he said, "Since the audit has not been concluded, it does not seem appropriate to say whether distortion occurred or not," but added, "If such distortion did occur, necessary institutional reforms should be made to ensure it never happens again."

In response to a reporter’s question about whether large-scale audits related to previous government policies in the early days of the current administration might cause unilateral harm to public officials, he said, "I think the matter should be clearly revealed even from the perspective of preventing recurrence," and pointed out, "It is somewhat difficult to say that ‘everything should not be a problem because it was done as administrative policy’ when materials that should exist are deliberately destroyed, numbers are changed to incorrect figures, or wrong things are recorded in the course of carrying out tasks."

Regarding the background of Prime Minister Han’s announcement on the 18th at a high-level ruling party-government meeting held at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Seoul about plans to enhance transparency related to labor union accounting, he explained, "In short, it is part of making the country and social system more transparent when viewed from the perspective of society as a whole, the economy as a whole, and our entire national administration."

On the matter of Prime Minister Han’s unannounced visit to the joint memorial altar for the victims of the Itaewon tragedy near Noksapyeong Station in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, the previous day, and his turning away after being protested by bereaved families demanding an apology, he said, "I just wanted to go," adding, "It is always a heartbreaking matter for us and something that must never happen again, so I just wanted to go, that’s all I can say."

Regarding rumors of a cabinet reshuffle early next year, Prime Minister Han said, "President Yoon Seok-youl basically has a strong philosophy that those entrusted with work should do it diligently, skillfully, and for a long time," and added, "There have been no discussions between the President and the Prime Minister’s Office regarding a cabinet reshuffle."

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