[Anchor]
President Lee Jae-myung has reiterated his position regarding the controversy over heads of investigative agencies attending Cabinet meetings. He stated that giving up direction and supervision over the Serious Crime Investigation Agency is a violation of the law that constitutes grounds for impeachment and dereliction of duty, asking whether critics are suggesting that such direction and supervision be conducted behind closed doors in secret.
Kang Chungwan reports.
[Reporter]
President Lee Jae-myung wrote on social media, "Whether it is the Prosecution Agency or the Korea Meteorological Administration, it is clearly stipulated in the Constitution and the Government Organization Act that all ministries and agencies are subject to the direction and supervision of the president and the prime minister." He added, "The president's direction and supervision over state affairs is both an authority and a responsibility."
He continued, "Giving up direction and supervision over the Serious Crime Investigation Agency is a violation of the Constitution and the Government Organization Act, constituting grounds for impeachment," and "a crime subject to criminal punishment for dereliction of duty." He then asked, "Are they telling me to violate the Constitution and laws by not directing and supervising the agency, or to conduct that direction and supervision behind closed doors in secret rather than in an open meeting?"
[President Lee Jae-myung (Cabinet Meeting, October 13): Ministers can also exercise direction. It is not like we would ever do such a thing (directing investigations into individual cases)...]
This was a rebuttal to criticisms from conservative opposition parties and others, who argued that "the attendance of officials such as the head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency at Cabinet meetings undermines political neutrality and investigative independence," and amounts to "the president effectively directing investigations."
Seong Gi-hong, Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Communication at Cheong Wa Dae, also said in a briefing, "I would like to ask whether the prosecution was truly politically independent and not politically biased back when the prosecutor general did not attend Cabinet meetings." He added that judging the neutrality of an investigative agency based on whether it attends Cabinet meetings is an excessive concern.
The People Power Party rebutted President Lee's position that giving up direction and supervision is dereliction of duty, calling it a "blatant declaration of directing investigations." The party countered by asking whether former presidents did not have prosecutor generals attend Cabinet meetings because they were ignorant of the Constitution and the law.
The party further claimed that President Lee is attempting to seize control of investigative agencies to drop indictments in his own trials.
Video by Jeong Sang-bo and Yoon Hyeong | Video Editing by Wi Won-yang | Graphics by Lim Chan-hyeok
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