President Lee: "Abandoning Direction and Supervision of Major Crimes Agency Is Grounds for Impeachment"

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung has once again stated his position regarding the controversy over heads of investigative agencies attending Cabinet meetings. He countered that for the president to abandon direction and supervision over the Major Crimes Investigation Agency would actually violate the law, constituting grounds for impeachment and dereliction of duty, asking whether critics are suggesting that direction and supervision be carried out behind closed doors in secret.

Kang Chung-wan reports.

[Reporter]

On social media, President Lee wrote, "Whether it is the Public Prosecution Service or the Korea Meteorological Administration, it is explicitly 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," adding, "The president's direction and supervision over state affairs is both an authority and a responsibility."

He continued, "Abandoning direction and supervision over the Major Crimes Investigation Agency is a violation of the Constitution and the Government Organization Act, which constitutes grounds for impeachment," as well as "a crime punishable by criminal penalties for dereliction of duty." He then asked, "Are you telling me to violate the Constitution and laws by not directing and supervising the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, or are you saying to conduct direction and supervision behind closed doors in secret rather than in open meetings?"

[President Lee Jae-myung (Cabinet meeting on October 13): "Ministers can also direct them. It's not like we're going to do something like that (direct investigations into individual cases) at all...."]

This was a rebuttal to criticisms from the conservative opposition and others, who argued that "the attendance of officials such as the head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency at Cabinet meetings harms political neutrality and investigative independence," and that "the president is effectively directing investigations."

Seong Gi-hong, Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Communication at the Blue House, also said in a briefing, "I would like to ask whether the prosecution was truly politically independent and not a 'political prosecution' during the period when the prosecutor general did not attend Cabinet meetings," adding that judging the neutrality of investigative agencies based on whether they attend Cabinet meetings is an excessive concern.

Regarding President Lee's stance that 'abandoning direction and supervision is dereliction of duty,' the People Power Party countered by calling it a "blatant declaration of investigative command," asking whether previous presidents chose not to seat the prosecutor general at Cabinet meetings because they were ignorant of the Constitution and laws.

The party further claimed that President Lee is attempting to take control of investigative agencies to have the indictments in his own trials dismissed.

(Video by Jeong Sang-bo and Yoon Hyeong | Video Editing by Wi Won-yang | Graphics by Lim Chan-hyeok)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.