"Yoon Revives Civil Affairs Office as Situation Becomes Unfavorable"
President Yoon Suk-yeol's decision to revive the Office of the Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs, citing 'listening to public opinion,' was downplayed by Park Eun-jung, a member-elect of the Joguk Innovation Party, who said it was an attempt to listen to the 'prosecutor's heart' rather than the people's sentiment.
Park Eun-jung, elected as a proportional representative for the 22nd National Assembly election from the Joguk Innovation Party, is giving an acceptance speech at the certificate presentation ceremony held on the afternoon of the 11th at the Central Election Commission in Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Yonhap News
On the 8th, Park appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "(The Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs) oversees and commands the five major investigative agencies: the prosecution, police, National Intelligence Service, National Tax Service, and Board of Audit and Inspection, and monitors public officials' discipline, so it was called the 'king secretary,' and it was a position where abuse of power was an issue."
He added, "If you want to listen to public opinion, you should frequently meet with opposition party leaders including the Joguk Innovation Party and the Democratic Party of Korea, resume door-stepping, and hold press conferences regularly. They abolished the office before, but now that the situation is unfavorable to themselves (the president), they are reviving it under the pretext of listening to public opinion. Which citizen could accept that?" he criticized.
He further stated, "It seems that through the revived Office of the Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs, the president intends to evade judicial risks surrounding himself."
In particular, Park pointed out that the appointment of former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Joo-hyun, who is from the prosecution, raises concerns about 'listening to the prosecutor's heart.' Since the Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs holds key powers over investigative authority and personnel appointments simultaneously, there is suspicion that the intention is to increase control over investigative agencies.
Park said, "There are issues raised that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's integrated digital evidence management system (D-Net) is akin to civilian surveillance," and criticized, "They are wrongly claiming that collecting and listening to crime information to pressure opposition lawmakers, civic groups, and the media is listening to public opinion."
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