[Exclusive] Blue House Reveals Financial Supervisory Service’s ‘Overreach Inspection’ Controversy... First Disclosure of Public Service Inspection Team Operation Regulations

Blue House Discloses 'Public Official Inspection Team Operation Regulations' in Response to Information Disclosure Request
Inspection Scope Defined as 'Presidential Appointed Officials, Heads, and Executives'
People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy Warns "Chief Secretary for Civil Affairs Can Confirm Investigation Progress"

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] The controversy over the 'exceeding authority' that occurred during the Blue House's inspection of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) last year is expected to intensify. This is because evidence supporting the claim that the Blue House violated regulations has emerged. Criticism is being raised that public authority was improperly used, as the government conducted extensive inspections on targets that were not authorized.

According to the 'Public Official Inspection Team Operation Regulations' obtained by Asia Economy on the 26th through an information disclosure request to the Blue House Presidential Secretariat, the document contains details about the composition, principles and procedures, work performance standards, and work attitude management of the Public Official Inspection Team. Until now, the operation regulations of the inspection team had only been disclosed in seven articles through the higher-level Presidential Secretariat Organization Regulations. This is the first time the detailed contents have been made public.

Earlier, an inspection team member belonging to the Blue House Civil Affairs Office conducted a large-scale inspection of the FSS for four months starting in February last year regarding the overseas interest rate-linked derivative-linked fund (DLF) massive loss incident and the Woori Bank password theft case. Subsequently, in June of the same year, disciplinary action was requested against two executives held responsible.

The problem is that inspections were also conducted on ordinary employees who were not inspection targets. The Civil Affairs Office is an organization under the Presidential Secretariat and is subject to the Public Official Inspection Team Operation Regulations. The scope of inspection work is stipulated in Chapter 3, Article 7. According to the article, the Public Official Inspection Team performs inspection duties related to 'high-ranking public officials belonging to the executive branch appointed by the president or heads and executives of public institutions and organizations appointed by the president.' Inspections of other individuals fall outside the scope of work. Even if corruption intelligence outside the scope of Article 7 is discovered, it must be reported to the Anti-Corruption Secretary, and if it is an important matter, it should be referred to the relevant agency or investigative/audit institutions.

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy: "The Civil Affairs Secretary can even check the progress of investigations and audits"

According to materials submitted by a Financial Supervisory Service official to Yoon Chang-hyun, a member of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee from the People Power Party, the FSS official stated, "The inspection team members presented documents that appear to be the Civil Affairs Office’s operational rules stating ‘inspection authority also applies to FSS employees’ and forcibly conducted inspections for five days," adding, "We thought it was a lawful procedure, so we cooperated by providing office space and allowing them to stay on-site during the inspection."

Meanwhile, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, which raised concerns about the appropriateness of the inspection last September and requested information disclosure to learn about the specific regulations of the Blue House inspection, also raised issues regarding Article 11 (Referral Process). According to Article 11, if corruption intelligence outside the scope of work is obtained, the matter must be reported and referred to investigative or audit institutions.

A representative of People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy expressed concern, saying, "(Article 11) requires that intelligence outside the scope of work be reported to the Anti-Corruption Secretary, who, despite not being within the scope, must report significant cases to the Civil Affairs Secretary," adding, "They can even check the progress of investigations and audits." This implies the possibility that the Civil Affairs Office could acquire intelligence beyond its official duties.

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy won both the first and second trials in lawsuits against the Blue House Presidential Secretariat Chief regarding the cancellation of information disclosure refusal decisions.