[Anchor]

There are further complications. Among five key power organizations, leadership posts across four agencies—excluding only the Ministry of the Interior and Safety—are currently vacant: the Ministry of Justice, the Public Prosecution Agency, the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, and the National Police Agency. In particular, for the head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, the confirmation hearing process has been delayed due to opposition from hardliners within the broader ruling camp.

Go Jeong-hyeon reports.

[Reporter]

Presiding over a meeting of senior secretaries yesterday (October 1) afternoon, President Lee Jae-myung assessed the launch of the Public Prosecution Agency and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and the beginning of a new criminal justice system as "a new chapter in the history of reforming South Korea's power agencies."

[President Lee Jae-myung: The flawed era where prosecutors exercised unchecked power and, even worse, acted as political prosecutors to oppress and eliminate political opponents is coming to an end.]

Earlier, regarding opposition from prosecution reform hardliners within the ruling camp who labeled Kim Ji-yong, a former chief prosecutor and nominee to head the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, as a so-called "pro-Yoon prosecutor," President Lee posted a message of rebuttal and persuasion on social media. He stated, "Nominee Kim's track record is 'anti-Yoon, not pro-Yoon,'" asking, "If everyone is cast aside merely for having been a prosecutor, what would happen to Representative Park Eun-jung of the Rebuilding Korea Party and Representative Lee Seong-yun of the Democratic Party, who are also former prosecutors?"

The presidential office also countered the hardliners' allegations point by point, stating that "nothing has changed following additional vetting."

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

The presidential office also explained that the claim labeling him a "pro-Yoon prosecutor" is false, noting that during the trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's mother-in-law, Choi Eun-soon, nominee Kim ordered a reinvestigation during the non-indictment review process and was subsequently demoted to a regional post under the Yoon administration as a result.

The presidential office announced that it would send nominee Kim's confirmation hearing request to the National Assembly in the coming days, effectively opting for a direct breakthrough despite pushback from some supporters.

However, regarding nominee Kim, Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae of the Democratic Party sarcastically remarked, "I visited because it was recommended as a famous restaurant, but the hygiene was a mess." Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min also criticized, "We established a committee to investigate anti-national activities, but how could we appoint a pro-Japanese collaborator as its chairman?"

The People Power Party held an on-site general meeting of lawmakers yesterday in front of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency in Jung-gu, Seoul, sharpening its criticism by saying, "With a hollow Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and Public Prosecution Agency, the gates of hell for public safety have been opened."

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