[Anchor]

Even though a new criminal justice system is set to launch tomorrow (October 2), the key leadership posts to head it remain vacant. Among the five key organizations, leadership positions at all except the Ministry of the Interior and Safety—the Ministry of Justice, the National Police Agency, the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, and the Prosecution Office—remain empty. In particular, regarding the chief of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, who directs investigations into major crimes, nominee Kim Ji-yong, a former chief prosecutor, has been embroiled in controversy over being a "pro-Yoon prosecutor," delaying the submission of a confirmation hearing request to the National Assembly for nearly a month. The Blue House actively pushed back today (October 1), stating that an additional vetting confirmed claims of him being a pro-Yoon prosecutor are completely groundless.

Go Jeong-hyeon reports.

[Reporter]

Presiding over a meeting of senior secretaries this afternoon, President Lee Jae-myung evaluated the launch, saying, "Tomorrow, the Prosecution Office and the Major Crimes Investigation Agency will be launched, and a new criminal justice system will begin," calling it "a new chapter in the history of reforming South Korea's power agencies."

[President Lee Jae-myung: An erroneous era—one in which prosecutors exercised unchecked power, and worse, acted as political prosecutors to eliminate and suppress political opponents—is coming to an end.]

Earlier, regarding opposition from hardliners on prosecution reform within the pan-ruling camp who labeled nominee Kim Ji-yong a so-called "pro-Yoon prosecutor," President Lee posted on social media to rebut and persuade them, writing, "Nominee Kim's track record is 'anti-Yoon, not pro-Yoon,'" and adding, "If we discard everyone simply because they are former prosecutors, what about Representative Park Eun-jung of the Rebuilding Korea Party and Representative Lee Seong-yoon of the Democratic Party, who are also former prosecutors?"

The Blue House also refuted the hardliners' allegations point by point, saying, "The additional vetting showed nothing has changed."

[Seong Gi-hong / Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Communication: He was judged to be the right person for prosecution reform and promoted to chief prosecutor during former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's tenure, and....]

It also explained that during the trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's mother-in-law, Choi Eun-soon, nominee Kim ordered a reinvestigation during the process of dropping charges, and as an aftermath, was demoted to a regional post under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, making claims of him being a "pro-Yoon prosecutor" false.

The Blue House stated that it would send the confirmation hearing request for nominee Kim to the National Assembly in the near future, indicating a choice to push through despite pushback from some supporters.

However, regarding nominee Kim, Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae of the Democratic Party quipped, "I went because it was recommended as a famous restaurant, but the hygiene was a mess," while Democratic Party Representative Kim Yong-min criticized, "We created the Special Committee for Anti-National Activities, so how could we appoint a pro-Japanese collaborator as its chairman?"

The People Power Party held an on-site general meeting of lawmakers today in front of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency in Jung District, Seoul, sharply criticizing, "The gates of public safety hell have opened with the hollow Major Crimes Investigation Agency and Prosecution Office."

(Video by Oh Young-choon and Kim Yong-woo | Video edited by Park Seon-soo | Graphics by Han Heung-soo)