Baek Hyeryun: "Amendment to the Corruption Investigation Office Act to be processed within the regular National Assembly session... 'Those who sleep on their rights'"

Baek Hye-ryun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is giving a proposal explanation on the partial amendment bill of the Housing Lease Protection Act and others at the National Assembly plenary session on the 30th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Baek Hye-ryun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that she intends to pass the amendment to the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HCIO) Act during this regular session of the National Assembly. She is the ruling party's secretary on the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and the regular session runs until December 9. Since the People Power Party is judged to have no intention of recommending candidates for the HCIO chief, the plan is to abolish the opposition negotiation group’s recommendation rights stipulated in the current law and launch the HCIO.

On the 16th, Baek appeared on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" and said, "Although the exact timing for processing the HCIO Act amendment has not been decided yet, realistically, I think it should definitely be handled within the regular session."

Baek proposed an amendment to the HCIO Act on the 14th, which requires the Speaker of the National Assembly to set a deadline of within 10 days for each negotiation group to recommend members. If recommendations are not made within the deadline, the amendment allows appointing or commissioning the president of the Korean Association of Law Professors and the director of the Council of Law Schools, who are ex officio members of the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee under the Court Organization Act. Park Beom-gye, also from the Democratic Party, introduced a similar bill on the 8th.

Baek said, "In fact, there were many rumors that the People Power Party had already designated candidate recommendation members. Some were former politicians, some were legal professionals, but many legal professionals declined, so it was very difficult. Various stories came up, but nothing actually surfaced."

She added, "In the end, since they are not recommending now, it can only be seen as a lack of will."

When asked about the possibility of the People Power Party making a sudden recommendation, she said, "There is a possibility. Some names were even mentioned. So I think some work has been done to some extent, but nothing has actually surfaced. They show an attitude of 'if you give one, we want another,' so there are many parts that are hard to trust."

Baek emphasized, "If they do not exercise the rights given to them, we cannot just watch indefinitely. There is a legal maxim that 'he who sleeps on his rights shall not be protected.' If they do not exercise even the rights given to them, it is natural that others can exercise them."