Committee sets Oct 14 hearing for first Major Crimes Investigation Agency chief nominee
Version 2: The committee has now approved the hearing plan, making the Oct 14 date firm rather than conditional, and it set the witness and reference person and the data requests; the documents also add detail on the delayed nomination and on the ruling party's efforts to contain its hardline critics.
In short
The National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee voted on Oct 7 to hold a confirmation hearing for Kim Ji-yong, the nominee for the first head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, on Oct 14. Newsis said the hearing plan passed with agreement between the ruling and opposition parties and that the hearing is set for 10 a.m. The vote followed the ruling Democratic Party's Oct 6 announcement of the schedule, after Kim's nomination was delayed by opposition from hardline ruling-camp lawmakers and his hearing request reached the National Assembly on Oct 2.
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The National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee voted on Oct 7 to hold a confirmation hearing for Kim Ji-yong, the nominee for the first head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, on Oct 14, Yonhap, Newsis and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. Newsis said the committee passed the hearing plan by agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, and that the hearing is set for 10 a.m. on Oct 14. [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]
The decision followed the ruling Democratic Party's Oct 6 announcement. Party floor spokesperson Kim Sung-hoe told reporters after the party's National Assembly audit strategy meeting that the committee was due to vote on Oct 7 and that the hearing would be held on Oct 14 if the plan passed as scheduled, according to Chosun Ilbo, Yonhap, Dong-A Ilbo and SBS News. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
President Lee Jae-myung nominated Kim as the first head of the agency after a recommendation from Public Administration and Security Minister Yoon Ho-jung, Newsis reported. Kyunghyang Shinmun said Yoon submitted the recommendation on the 7th of last month, about a month before the hearing plan was passed. Yonhap, Dong-A Ilbo, SBS News and Newsis reported that the hearing request reached the National Assembly on Oct 2, about 20 days after the nomination, after additional verification, which Yonhap and Dong-A Ilbo attributed to opposition from hardline pro-reform lawmakers in the ruling camp, with Newsis also citing the Innovation Party. Newsis said the agency launched without a head because of the delay. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 10 ]
Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok said at a supreme council meeting that “the time for diverse opinions is over and the time for the confirmation hearing has come”, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported, adding that he had said the previous day on the party's YouTube channel that the party should rein in excessive demands. Newsis reported that critics included lawmaker Kim Yong-min, who wrote that appointing the target of reform to a reform post is wrong, and Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae. Kyunghyang Shinmun said Choo and Kim Yong-min had not posted messages about the nominee since Oct 5, while Innovation Party figures Cho Kuk and Hwang Hyun-sun criticised the president's messages on the issue. [ 6 , 10 ]
The committee also approved requests for data and for witnesses and reference persons, Newsis reported; as of 6 p.m. the previous day, 1,511 requests for data had been filed with 60 institutions. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported the parties agreed to call former vice justice minister Koh Ki-young as a witness and Kim Ye-won, an attorney who heads a disability rights law centre, as a reference person. Newsis reported that during the Oct 7 audit the opposition People Power Party asked for Lim Eun-jung, head of the Gwangju branch of the agency, to be adopted as a witness, with lawmaker Park Sang-woong saying the Democratic Party opposed it. [ 9 , 10 ]
Why it matters
Kim Ji-yong is the nominee for the first head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, which Newsis reported launched without a leader because of the delayed appointment. The committee vote clears the procedural hurdle that had left the Oct 14 date conditional, and the hearing is the next step before the post is filled. The documents give no further basis for wider consequences.
Key facts
- The National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee voted on Oct 7 to hold a confirmation hearing for Kim Ji-yong, the nominee for the first head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, on Oct 14. [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]
- Newsis and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported the hearing plan was passed with agreement between the ruling and opposition parties. [ 9 , 10 ]
- Newsis reported the hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Oct 14. [ 9 ]
- The ruling Democratic Party said on Oct 6 that the hearing was scheduled for Oct 14 and the committee vote on the plan for Oct 7. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Kim's hearing request reached the National Assembly on Oct 2, about 20 days after the nomination, after additional verification, following opposition from hardline ruling-camp lawmakers. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun reported Public Administration and Security Minister Yoon Ho-jung recommended Kim to President Lee Jae-myung on the 7th of last month, about a month before the hearing plan was passed. [ 10 ]
- Newsis reported that as of 6 p.m. the previous day, 1,511 requests for data had been filed with 60 institutions, and that the committee also approved requests for witnesses and reference persons. [ 9 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- A confirmation hearing for Kim Ji-yong, the nominee for the first head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, will be held on Oct 14. [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]
- The National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee approved the hearing plan on Oct 7. [ 9 , 10 ]
- The ruling Democratic Party announced on Oct 6 that the hearing was scheduled for Oct 14 and that the committee would vote on the plan on Oct 7. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Kim's hearing request reached the National Assembly on Oct 2, about 20 days after the nomination, after additional verification. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- Hardline figures in the ruling camp opposed Kim's nomination, and the opposition continued after the schedule was set. [ 4 , 6 , 10 ]
Still unclear
- Whether Kim Ji-yong will be appointed after the hearing. No document states the outcome of the hearing or a decision on the appointment; the documents cover only the scheduling of the hearing.
- What the discrepancies are between the accounts given after the presidential office's re-verification and those given by Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae and Innovation Party lawmaker Park Eun-jung. Kyunghyang Shinmun quotes a ruling-party lawmaker saying such discrepancies exist and should be clarified at the hearing, but the documents do not describe their content.
- Which witnesses and reference persons the People Power Party wanted, beyond Lim Eun-jung, and whether its request succeeded. Newsis reports only that the opposition asked for Lim Eun-jung to be adopted and that the Democratic Party opposed it; the final witness list apart from the two named by Kyunghyang Shinmun is not given.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- On Oct 6, Newsis reports the ruling party's plan to hold the confirmation hearing on Oct 14 and to vote on the hearing plan on Oct 7. [ 1 ]
- On Oct 6, Chosun Ilbo reports the party's announcement, citing floor spokesperson Kim Sung-hoe. [ 2 ]
- On Oct 6, Yonhap carries Kim Sung-hoe's remarks that the Public Administration and Security Committee will vote on the plan on Oct 7 and that the hearing will follow on Oct 14 if it passes. [ 3 ]
- On Oct 6, Dong-A Ilbo reports the same schedule and the earlier delay in submitting the hearing request. [ 4 ]
- On Oct 7, Newsis reports on continuing opposition from hardline ruling-camp figures and the Innovation Party, and on Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok's call for the party to rein in excessive demands. [ 6 ]
- On Oct 7, Kukmin Ilbo reports that the committee is pressing ahead with the Oct 14 hearing despite hardline ruling-camp opposition. [ 7 ]
- On Oct 7, Yonhap reports that the hearing will be held on Oct 14. [ 8 ]
- On Oct 7, Newsis reports the committee approved the hearing plan by agreement between the parties, with the hearing set for 10 a.m. on Oct 14. [ 9 ]
- On Oct 7, Kyunghyang Shinmun reports the committee passed the plan with bipartisan agreement and names the witness and reference person. [ 10 ]