Confirmation hearing for inaugural serious crimes agency chief set for Oct. 14

The National Assembly confirmation hearing for Kim Ji-yong, nominee for inaugural chief of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, is set to open Monday after a drawn-out process that has exposed rare intraparty friction within the ruling camp. While confirmation hearings typically pit the opposition on the attack against a ruling-party defense, sentiment within the Democratic Party of Korea has turned sufficiently uneasy over Kim's nomination that its own lawmakers are signaling they will join in rigorous scrutiny.

The National Assembly's Committee on the Interior and Safety is scheduled to hold a plenary session Wednesday to formally adopt the confirmation hearing request for Kim.

The request was submitted to the National Assembly 26 days after President Lee Jae Myung announced the nomination. Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung had recommended Kim on Sept. 7, and Lee formally nominated him the following day. Strong pushback from hardliners within the ruling bloc, however, triggered additional vetting procedures, delaying submission of the hearing request to the Assembly until Friday.

Democratic Party lawmaker Yun Geon-young, a member of the interior committee, said on BBS Radio on Wednesday that a rigorous hearing would serve both the president and the public. "Fiercely verifying whether he agrees with prosecutorial reform, whether he is the right person as the inaugural serious crimes agency chief, and whether he has the necessary qualities — that will be helpful to President Lee and to our people," Yun said.

Yun added that while Kim's career record was a matter of fact, perspectives on it differed. "There are two ways of looking at it, and the hearing process is about determining which is right," he said. "The more intense the hearing, the more the public will be able to form their own judgment — and I think the president will take that judgment into account."

At the same time, voices within the party are calling for a swift end to the internal discord surrounding the nomination.

Park Ji-won, a five-term senior Democratic Party lawmaker, took direct aim at Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae and Gwangju District Serious Crimes Investigation Agency chief Im Eun-jeong — who have led what has been described as a veto campaign against Kim — saying, "They keep popping up like a whack-a-mole game. I'll be the one swinging the hammer."

Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok also addressed the issue on the party's YouTube channel Wednesday, saying he had told the party on Tuesday that "it was time for the party to rein in" the debate. "I understand they have already made their views sufficiently known and will not be speaking further on the matter," he said.

At a supreme council meeting the same day, Kim Min-seok said the time for diverse opinions had passed and the moment for the confirmation hearing had arrived. "I ask that the nominee also prepare to explain thoroughly and sincerely the various questions surrounding him," he said.