Ruling party to push ahead with law revision to launch special investigative body
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) floor leader Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon, center, speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly, Thursday. Kim said the DPK would push ahead with law revisions to launch a special investigative body to look into corruption by high-ranking officials by the end of this year, after a committee to nominate candidates for the position of head of the investigative body failed to reach an agreement at its meeting a day before. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han
Committee fails to nominate special investigative body chief
By Jung Da-min
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is set to push ahead with revising laws related to a new investigative body to look into corruption by high-ranking officials, after a relevant committee failed to reach an agreement on the nomination of candidates to lead the new office, Wednesday.
The committee to nominate candidates for the chief post of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials was formed late last month, over three months after the slated date for the launch of the new organization due to the main opposition People Power Party's (PPP) protest against the body.
The committee is comprised of seven members ― the justice minister, the head of the National Court Administration, the head of the Korean Bar Association and four additional experts, two recommended by the ruling party and two by the main opposition party.
The PPP, which has disapproved of the creation of the new organization, saying the investigative body would have a level of power that is unconstitutional, participated in the chief selection process in late October by recommending two lawyers for the committee. The committee members recommended 11 candidates for the chief post of the new organization, but in their second and third meetings last Friday and Wednesday, respectively, they failed to narrow the list down to two finalists that would allow the President could select the successful candidate.
The members of the committee, except for the two recommended by the PPP, then refused to hold more rounds of discussions and said the committee would disband, although the two members from the opposition bloc proposed to follow lawful procedures.
The rival parties criticized each other after the breakup of the committee's latest meeting.
The main opposition People Power Party's emergency committee chief Kim Chong-in, center, speaks during a committee meeting at the National Assembly, Thursday. The main opposition party strongly criticized the ruling party's move to unilaterally revise laws related to a special investigative body to look into corruption by high ranking officials. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han.
The DPK, which had continuously called for the need to launch the investigative body by the end of this year, said it has no other choice but to push ahead with a law revision to reduce the opposition's right to recommend committee members. With the supermajority of 174 seats at the National Assembly, the DPK could push ahead with the law revision without consent from the PPP which has 103 seats.
“In order to ensure the political neutrality and independence of the investigative body chief post, the law requires a consensus of at least six out of the seven committee members and their consent is needed to nominate the two final candidates. The opposition party, however, proved that even such an ideal system could be useless when abused,” DPK floor leader Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon said during a party meeting at the Assembly, Thursday.
The DPK is reviewing revision bills to nullify a veto right of the opposition, such as allowing for a consensus of five committee members instead of the current six, or enabling the National Assembly Speaker to nominate candidates.
The PPP strongly condemned the DPK's move, calling it unconstitutional.
“The DPK has recommended candidates who are not eligible for the post and is demanding the committee members pick one among them, which is nothing but coercion,” said PPP floor leader Joo Ho-young during a party meeting.
“The committee did not have enough time to properly verify the candidates, and the DPK recommended candidates who are not eligible or suspected of lacking political neutrality,” Joo said. “It said it would not continue to hold the recommendation committee meetings, virtually disbanding it… We will never let go of the destruction of the rule of law, the destruction of investigative institutions, and the ruling bloc's attempt to achieve a dictatorship through the special investigative body.”