Public Corruption Investigation Office Appoints Lee Jin-sung, Former Constitutional Court Chief Justice, and Yang Bo-kyung, Sungshin Women's University President, as Advisory Committee Chair and Vice Chair

Chairman Lee Jin-seong attending the Advisory Committee meeting of the Corruption Investigation Office held on the 12th. / Photo by Corruption Investigation Office

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) held the 1st Advisory Committee Meeting of the CIO on the 12th.

At the meeting held from 3 p.m. at the Government Complex Gwacheon, CIO Chief Kim Jin-wook appointed former Constitutional Court Chief Justice Lee Jin-sung as the chairman of the advisory committee and Yang Bo-kyung, president of Sungshin Women’s University, as the vice chairman, along with appointing 15 advisory committee members.

The names of the remaining advisory committee members were not disclosed due to requests for confidentiality from some members.

At the meeting, the CIO introduced the major work status since its launch to the advisory committee members and listened to opinions on legal issues related to the CIO Act and measures to enhance the CIO’s credibility.

The CIO stated, "We plan to actively revitalize the advisory committee in the future to seek advice on the CIO’s operational direction, institutional improvements, and development plans."

Meanwhile, in his opening remarks, Chief Kim said, "Although it may take some time going forward, I am confident that time is on our side."

Recently, there have been observations that the investigation of the 'first case' in April might be difficult, as the CIO selected fewer successful candidates than the quota despite receiving more than ten times the number of applicants for CIO prosecutors. Chief Kim’s remarks appear to reflect awareness of this current situation.

Chief Kim stated, "Based on the public’s desire to eradicate corruption among high-ranking officials and reform the prosecution, since our office was launched on January 21, we have been striving to establish the human, material, and normative foundations of the CIO."

He added, "On the human resources side, after the personnel committee was formed through bipartisan agreement, the recruitment process for CIO prosecutors has been underway and appointments are imminent, and the recruitment process for investigators is also in progress."

He continued, "On the material and normative side, we are working on supplementing and revising the physical facilities of the current office building, which was hastily prepared to coincide with the enforcement of the CIO Act in mid-July last year, as well as revising drafts of various regulations such as the case handling rules."

Chief Kim said, "This advisory committee was convened to gather the esteemed members’ insights on the upcoming investigations, prosecution initiation and maintenance, case publicity, and other activities of the CIO before our office begins full-scale operations."

He added, "Even after our office commences full-scale activities, we intend to continuously seek the members’ wisdom and advice so that the CIO can establish itself as an advanced investigative agency trusted by the public. I ask for the members’ ongoing interest and affection so that we can wisely overcome the current challenges and become an investigative agency that meets the public’s expectations."