Cheong Wa Dae rejects criticism over agency heads attending Cabinet meetings
In short
Cheong Wa Dae said on 22 October that heads of investigative and prosecution bodies will not be given instructions on individual cases at Cabinet meetings. It rejected criticism that their attendance harms independence and that President Lee Jae-myung's recent remarks to an agency head were investigative direction. It signalled that attendance will continue.
Read the full story 2 min read
Cheong Wa Dae said on 22 October that it again rejected criticism that heads of investigative and prosecution bodies, such as the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (중수청) and the Prosecution Service (공소청), could see their agencies' independence harmed by attending Cabinet meetings. Seong Gi-hong (성기홍), senior secretary for public relations and communication, spoke at a briefing that day. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Seong said: "The People's Sovereignty Government is making firm efforts to protect the fairness and political neutrality of investigations and the independence of prosecution decisions, and this principle will not waver." He added that Cabinet meetings will not deal at all with investigation or prosecution direction in specific individual cases. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
The briefing also answered criticism of a recent exchange. President Lee Jae-myung had spoken to Kim Ji-yong (김지용), head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, who attended a Cabinet meeting. Some quarters said the president was directing an investigation. According to Seong, Lee asked the agency to investigate and sternly punish serious crimes such as white-collar crime, power-related corruption and financial crime without sanctuary and regardless of whose side was involved, and to prove the agency's reason for existing. Seong asked whether that was investigative direction and called the claim a "very regrettable and distorted article". [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Seong said investigative direction generally means telling people what to do in individual cases. He said the president would not give specific investigative direction, just as he does not give specific instructions to ministers who hold licensing or patent authority. Yonhap and SBS said Cheong Wa Dae signalled that attendance at Cabinet meetings to share the direction of state affairs will continue. Korea Economic Daily said it signalled that attendance by agency heads such as the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency would continue to be allowed. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
A Cheong Wa Dae official said investigative bodies perform a special function but, under the Constitution and law, are bodies that must share the government's overall direction like other administrative bodies, and so should not receive special treatment. The official said it was itself a problem to treat investigative agency heads as special and to see attendance as a problem, and asked whether prosecutors general were politically independent and avoided political investigations in the period when they did not attend Cabinet meetings. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
According to Yonhap and SBS, the official also said attendance by the prosecutor general or the heads of the two agencies is not an automatic guarantee of neutrality. In the official's words, the will of the president who appoints them and of the heads to resist outside pressure matters, and independence should be judged through the institutional completion of prosecution reform rather than attendance, which the official called a "one-sided and excessive concern". Cheong Wa Dae added that, given the concern, agency heads would conduct themselves more carefully on the open stage of the Cabinet meeting and investigate so as not to be misunderstood. [ 1 , 3 ]
Why it matters
The dispute concerns whether the presence of investigative agency heads at Cabinet meetings affects the independence and political neutrality of investigations. The documents report only Cheong Wa Dae's side of the argument, so the critics' case is not set out.
Key facts
- Seong Gi-hong (성기홍), Cheong Wa Dae's senior secretary for public relations and communication, spoke at a briefing on 22 October. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- He said Cabinet meetings will not deal at all with investigation or prosecution direction in specific individual cases. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The briefing answered criticism that attendance by heads of bodies such as the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (중수청) and the Prosecution Service (공소청) could harm their independence. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Critics in some quarters said President Lee Jae-myung was directing investigations after he spoke to Kim Ji-yong (김지용), head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, at a Cabinet meeting. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Seong called the claim that Lee's remarks were investigative direction a "very regrettable and distorted article". [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- A Cheong Wa Dae official asked whether prosecutors general were politically independent in the period when they did not attend Cabinet meetings. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Cheong Wa Dae said Cabinet meetings will not handle investigation or prosecution direction in specific individual cases. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Cheong Wa Dae signalled that agency heads will continue to attend Cabinet meetings. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Lee Jae-myung's remarks to Kim Ji-yong asked the agency to investigate white-collar crime, power-related corruption and financial crime without sanctuary and to prove its reason for existing, according to Seong's account. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Who made the criticism that attendance harms independence is not stated. The documents refer only to criticism from "some quarters" and do not name critics or give their arguments.
- The date of the Cabinet meeting at which Lee spoke to Kim Ji-yong is not given. The documents say only that it was recent.
- Whether attendance will in fact continue is not formally announced. Documents say Cheong Wa Dae signalled or implied this; no formal decision is quoted.