One day before launch of new investigative agencies, ruling camp divided over Kim Ji-yong nomination

With the abolition of the Prosecution Service and the launch of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Service just one day away, divisions within the ruling camp over the fitness of Kim Ji-yong — the nominee for inaugural director of the new agency — show no sign of abating. President Lee Jae Myung has personally pushed back against criticism of Kim, lending weight to the likelihood that the nomination will stand, but factions within both the Democratic Party of Korea and the Rebuilding Korea Party are still calling for it to be withdrawn.

The National Assembly's confirmation hearing process for Kim has fallen behind schedule, and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency is now expected to open Friday without a director in place, according to political sources. If the nomination stands, the hearing could be held during this month's national audit schedule.

Rep. Kim Young-jin of the Democratic Party, who chairs the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, said there was "a great deal of internal opposition" but added that "the confirmation hearing is the right place to scrutinize the nominee."

President Lee took to his X account Thursday to argue that rejecting all prosecutor-background figures would sweep up Rebuilding Korea Party Rep. Park Eun-jung, Prosecutor Im Eun-jeong and Democratic Party Rep. Lee Sung-yoon — all of whom are current or former prosecutors. He particularly rebuffed claims labeling Kim a "pro-Yoon prosecutor," saying such characterizations had "largely turned out to be untrue or even groundless fabrications."

Opposition voices within the ruling camp have not quieted. Rebuilding Korea Party Rep. Park Eun-jung has raised questions about Kim's 2022 stance against curtailing prosecutors' investigative powers, his handling of the case involving prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong's assault conviction, and the travel ban case involving former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-eui. She has asked whether it was appropriate for a senior prosecutor who opposed reduced investigative powers during prosecution reform to lead the very agency created after the Prosecution Service's abolition.

The Rebuilding Korea Party is also opposing the nomination as a party. It plans to hold an on-site supreme council meeting Friday in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae also signaled her opposition again Thursday, albeit indirectly. In a Facebook post using the analogy of a restaurant recommendation gone wrong, she wrote that she felt it was right "to tell the people I care about what I have seen, and to warn them so they do not suffer the same disappointment." She added: "The same applies to people. I believe it is one's duty to alert others to what should be watched out for, coming from someone who has experienced it firsthand."

Within the Democratic Party, the prevailing view is that the party should take time and assess Kim's fitness through the confirmation hearing process. Rep. Lee Hae-sik, who leads the Democratic Party's side on the Public Administration and Security Committee, said on KBS Radio Thursday that since it had become clear the agency director could not be appointed before Friday's opening anyway, "perhaps it is fine to take a little more time."