BAI sides with president-elect in member nominations

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, left, walks out of the Korea Banking Institute building in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

By Kang Hyun-kyung

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) of Korea expressed its concerns about President Moon Jae-in's request to appoint a BAI member at the end of his term, according to the Presidential Transition Committee.

In a press release, the committee quoted the BAI as saying that BAI members are required to maintain a high level of political neutrality. Thus, the BAI chief recommending a commissioner nominee to the sitting president to fill vacant member posts in time of a leadership change could trigger unnecessary doubts or controversy.

The reaction came as the transition team received policy briefings from the BAI on Friday. Members of the transition team called on the BAI officials to come up with measures that can to help the body be a transparent, fair and neutral entity.

Currently two BAI member posts out of seven are vacant.

Filling the two posts has emerged as a source of friction between President Moon and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who are still working on setting up a one-on-one meeting.

Cheong Wa Dae reportedly has asked Yoon to allow President Moon to appoint one BAI member out of the two before he leaves the presidency, a request Yoon rejected.

Yoon claimed that in times of leadership change, the incoming president is supposed to have greater say in the nominations of key posts, such as BAI members, because the nominee will work most of their tenure under the new leader.

Their differences over the nominations of key government posts, including the BAI members, are seen by some as a key obstacle behind the failure of the two sides to set a date for Moon and Yoon to meet. Previously, incoming and outgoing presidents had met within 10 days after the presidential election winner was confirmed. But this time, over two weeks have passed since the election, and the two sides have struggled to confirm a meeting date, as they have clashed in almost every issue area.

The seven-member BAI members are in charge of making decisions as to whether certain probes into policy initiatives or the conduct of the highest-ranking government officials will be launched or not. Their decisions are made based on majority rule, so the approvals of four members are needed for investigations to take place.

The presidential transition team quoted the BAI as saying that in times of leadership change, the BAI chief can exercise the right to appoint members if a consensus is made between the outgoing and incoming presidents.

There was a past instance of an outgoing president nominating a BAI member, in which the post was filled after a consensus was built between the outgoing and incoming presidents.