Democratic Party That Created the Corruption Investigation Office Calls for Its Abolition... Corruption Investigation Office Chief Says "Encouragement to Do Our Best"

Urgent National Assembly Questions on Yoon's Treason Charges and Passenger Plane Disaster
Odongun: "It Is Natural for the Corruption Investigation Office to Have Investigation Rights over Yoon"

During the National Assembly's emergency inquiry on President Yoon Seok-yeol's charges of insurrection and the investigation into the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster, numerous questions were raised regarding the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

On the afternoon of the 9th, Odongun, the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, responded to a question from Lee Cheol-gyu, a member of the People Power Party, during an emergency urgent question session held at the National Assembly plenary session regarding "President Yoon Seok-yeol's unconstitutional declaration of martial law on charges of rebellion and the investigation into the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster." Photo by Yonhap News

On the 9th, Rep. Cho Eun-hee of the People Power Party asked CIO Chief Oh Dong-woon about the Democratic Party of Korea, which established the CIO, calling for its abolition. Chief Oh responded, "I understand it as encouragement to do our best regarding the role and function of the CIO." Rep. Cho smiled awkwardly and said, "Encouragement like that..." and trailed off.

Rep. Cho then asked Chief Oh how many times he had consulted with the National Investigation Headquarters regarding the issuance of the second arrest warrant for President Yoon. Chief Oh replied, "We have consulted several times and are still in consultation." Rep. Cho said, "I met with the head and officials of the National Investigation Headquarters today, and they said they have never consulted." Chief Oh explained, "We do not necessarily meet in person; considering media attention and the risk of investigation information leaks, we have used phone calls extensively."

Rep. Park Ju-min of the Democratic Party also asked Chief Oh, "If the warrant is lawful and the investigative agency's investigation is not an act of harm, but the Security Office obstructs it, does that constitute obstruction of official duties?" Chief Oh answered, "It corresponds to several charges, including obstruction of special official duties and concealment of a criminal."

Rep. Park further stated, "For your reference, during the 21st National Assembly, the People Power Party collectively signed a pledge to waive immunity from arrest," and emphasized, "If they collectively obstruct the execution of the warrant, arrest them without any special consideration as lawmakers." Chief Oh responded, "I understand well."

Rep. Lee Cheol-gyu of the People Power Party emphasized that the CIO does not have investigative authority over President Yoon's insurrection charges. Rep. Lee asked, "On what grounds did you initiate the investigation into this case?" Chief Oh replied, "We initiated the investigation on both abuse of authority and insurrection charges."

Rep. Lee then asked, "Doesn't the CIO lack authority to investigate insurrection charges?" Chief Oh said, "Essentially, we initiated the investigation based on the abuse of authority by a high-ranking official." Rep. Lee also asked, "Is the sitting president subject to prosecution?" Chief Oh firmly stated, "Regardless of the prosecution eligibility, there is no disagreement that our CIO has investigative authority over the president."

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