Head of serious crimes agency vows not to answer President Lee's questions on individual cases

Kim Ji-yong, head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, said Monday he would not answer questions about individual cases even if President Lee Jae-myung raised them in private.

Kim made the remark at the comprehensive national audit of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee. People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-jin asked whether Kim was confident he could stay silent on individual cases not only in public but also behind closed doors. "I am confident," Kim said.

Kim had attended a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Lee at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. The previous day, Sunday, Kim had held his first doorstep press briefing since taking office, where he pledged to "root out the politicization of investigations." When reporters asked whether he intended to attend Cabinet meetings, he said he would "decide after consulting relevant laws and agencies." His attendance at the Cabinet meeting so soon after that pledge drew questions about his political neutrality.

At the audit, Kwon showed a photograph of Kim at the Cabinet meeting and pressed him: "Don't you find it strange and inappropriate for the head of an investigative agency to sit in a Cabinet meeting taking down instructions from the president?" Kim said he was "aware of the concerns some members of the public have."

Kwon then asked which specific laws Kim had relied on and which agencies he had consulted before deciding to attend. Kim said the basis lay in the Constitution, the Government Organization Act and Cabinet meeting operating rules, and that he had coordinated his attendance with the Ministry of Interior and Safety. He added, however, that he had not consulted directly with the minister but had spoken with relevant officials.

In his opening remarks, Kim said he was "deeply grateful to the public for their interest in and expectations of the agency as a new criminal justice system gets under way," and pledged that the agency would "exercise its investigative authority strictly, grounded in political neutrality, fairness and procedural justice." He added that he would work to ensure the agency takes firm root and fully protects the rights of the public.

Kwon said that while Kim had pledged in his opening remarks to uphold political neutrality, fairness and procedural justice, "the very structure of regularly attending Cabinet meetings and sharing the direction of state affairs creates pressure even without any specific instructions on cases."

Kim said he was "well aware of the public's concerns."