2023-10-19 15:23:13
Legislation and Judiciary Committee
On the 19th, during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s audit of the Senior Public Officials’ Crimes Investigation Office, following the previous National Assembly audit, suspicions regarding the Board of Audit and Inspection’s targeted audit of former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Chairman Jeon Hyun-hee emerged as the biggest issue. The Corruption Investigation Office, which raided the Board of Audit and Inspection and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission last month and began a mandatory investigation nine months following Chairman Jeon’s complaint, announced that it was also paying attention to allegations of passing audit reports.
Kim Jin-wook, head of the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Office, said at the National Assembly inspection that day, “This might become an issue” regarding the fact that the audit report on former Chairman Jeon was made public in June without the approval of Audit Committee member Cho Eun-seok, who was the main audit committee member. This refers to the incident on June 9th when the Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choi Jae-hae and the Board of Audit and Inspection Secretariat released the audit report without confirmation from Commissioner Cho and other audit committee members. This is interpreted to mean that Commissioner Cho’s exclusion from approval might be problematic.
At the audit committee held on June 1, Chairman Jeon protested once morest the Board of Audit and Inspection’s secretariat’s disclosure of the audit results even though the six audit committee members unanimously decided ‘no responsibility’, accusing Director Choi and Board of Audit and Inspection Secretary General Yoo Byeong-ho of abuse of power. He reported the charges to the Public Prosecution Service.
Regarding this, Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, “On June 8, there was an agreement among the audit committee members excluding the audit committee chairman, but it was not reflected, and they used tricks to make it seem like Chairman Cho’s wishes were reflected, even making the fourth amendment.” At the same time, he pointed out, “Does it appear that the delay has been so severe that the secretariat cannot wait?”
The complaint to the prosecutor in the first investigation of former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-eui’s ‘villa sexual entertainment case’ was also mentioned. Cha Gyu-geun, former head of the Immigration Control Division of the Ministry of Justice, filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office in July on charges of special dereliction of duty under the Aggravated Specific Crimes Act, saying that the primary investigation team in the former Vice Minister Kim case deliberately cleared the case even following knowing regarding the crime. Former Headquarters Director Cha was indicted on charges of illegal conduct in the process of preventing former Vice Minister Kim from leaving the country, but was acquitted in the first trial. Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Tan-hee said, “This case is the reason for the existence of the Corruption Investigation Office,” and added, “As it is remembered by the public as the worst legal cartel case, I ask the Corruption Investigation Office to have determination and come to an acceptable conclusion.”
Reporter Kim So-hee
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