Yoon Approves Odongwoon Appointment as Chief of Corruption Investigation Office: "Opposition's Insistence on Special Prosecutor is Contradictory"

Adoption of Personnel Hearing Report by Bipartisan Agreement
Presidential Office: "Special Prosecutor Proposal is Opposition's Self-Contradiction"

Odongwoon, the nominee for the Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency, is answering questions from committee members at the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 17th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk-yeol approved the appointment of Oh Dong-woon as the head of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HOCI) on the 21st.

Jung Jin-seok, Chief Secretary of the Presidential Office, held a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon and stated, "The President approved the appointment of Oh Dong-woon as the head of HOCI, which was adopted by bipartisan agreement in the National Assembly today."

Earlier, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a plenary session in the morning and adopted the personnel hearing report on candidate Oh by bipartisan agreement.

The report included both favorable and unfavorable opinions. The Democratic Party expressed an unfavorable opinion citing moral issues such as 'illegal gift,' while the People Power Party evaluated him as qualified, stating there were no major problems.

However, the Democratic Party agreed to the adoption of the report considering that candidate Oh stated he would investigate the Chae Sang-byeong case "without exception and according to principles, regardless of whether it involves the President or anyone else."

Previously, candidate Oh said at the personnel hearing held in the National Assembly on the 17th, "If appointed as the head of HOCI, I will investigate the Marine Corps' Chae Sang-byeong case without exception, according to law and principles."

However, since the ruling and opposition parties differ over who should investigate the Chae Sang-byeong case, confusion is expected for the time being.

The Democratic Party insists that the 'Special Prosecutor Act on Suspected External Pressure in the Investigation of the Marine Corps Chae Sang-byeong Death Case' (Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act) must be passed to investigate the case, but President Yoon exercised his right to request reconsideration (veto) on the same day, stating, "The special prosecutor bill does not conform to the spirit of the Constitution."

In the afternoon briefing, Chief Secretary Jung said, "HOCI was an investigative agency unilaterally established by the Democratic Party in the previous administration as a de facto permanent special prosecutor for investigating crimes of high-ranking officials," and he pointed out, "However, now demanding the introduction of a special prosecutor because they do not trust HOCI's investigations is a self-contradiction and self-denial that denies the very reason for HOCI's existence, which they created."

He added, "Moreover, while agreeing to the appointment of the head of HOCI by bipartisan consensus, insisting on the special prosecutor law that neutralizes HOCI on one side is nothing but hypocritical."