Jeon Hyun-hee "Targeted for principled actions... Attendance audit is abuse of audit authority"

Jeon Hyun-hee, Former Anti-Corruption Commissioner, KBS Radio Interview
"Minister-level Agency Head Late? Unprecedented Incident"

On the 27th, Jeon Hyun-hee, the former Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission who completed her three-year term and stepped down, shared her reflections, saying, "It was difficult to become a target of suppression because I took principled actions."

Jeon appeared on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' on the 29th and explained why she stayed despite pressure to resign, stating, "As the head of an institution, I have a mission and responsibility to uphold," and added, "To irresponsibly quit just because it's scary is running away and cowardly."

She explained, "The Commission's work involves preventing corruption, handling citizens' grievances as an ombudsman, and administrative adjudication, so the work itself is independent," and continued, "It is an institution that sometimes speaks harshly to the president or the administration and represents the voice of the people, acting as a kind of watchdog."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

She further said, "Naturally, the independence of such an institution must be guaranteed, and in advanced countries, the terms of such institutions do not coincide with the president's term but are staggered," adding, "Only then can they speak frankly and represent the people's opinions."

Regarding the Board of Audit and Inspection's report on her 'late arrival,' she said, "I believe the audit against me was not conducted through normal procedures or motives," and claimed, "In a situation where pressure to resign was increasing from the president and the administration, the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection acted as a supporting agency for the administration's governance, effectively participating in a targeted audit to force my resignation."

She said, "Ordinarily, ministers do not have attendance standards such as specific arrival and departure times," and added, "Only I, among all public officials in the Republic of Korea, was subjected to a frame that accused me of not arriving at the office by 9 a.m. even during business trips, labeling me as late unfairly."

She continued, "This kind of attendance audit for a minister-level agency head is unprecedented and applies only to me," and said, "The standards themselves are not applied to other ministers but only to me, so this is clearly a targeted audit and an abuse of audit authority applied solely to me."

Additionally, Jeon Hyun-hee indicated her intention to resume political activities. She said, "I do not yet have specific plans on what form of politics I will pursue," and added, "I will always prioritize how and where I am needed and called upon by the people."

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