Breaking News: President Yoon Seok-yeol Nominates Oh Dong-woon as Head of Corruption Investigation Bureau in Wake of Scandals and Investigations

◀ Again ▶

President Yoon Seok-yeol today nominated a candidate for the post of head of the Corruption Investigation Bureau, which has been vacant for more than three months.

My name is Oh Dong-woon, a lawyer who used to be a judge.

The appointment of a new head of the Corruption Investigation Bureau came at a time when the Presidential Secretary was suspected of being involved in external pressure to investigate the Corporal Chae case and the Democratic Party had announced the passage of the Prosecutor’s Law special on corruption. Corporal Chae and the opposition party had planned a thorough review through hearings.

This is reporter Lee Yong-ju.

◀ Report ▶

Oh Dong-woon, a lawyer and former judge, has been named as the final candidate for second head of the Corruption Investigation Bureau.

It has been 96 days since first director Kim Jin-wook retired last January.

[김수경/대통령실 대변인]

″Among the two candidates, lawyer Oh Dong-woon was nominated as the final candidate for the position of head of the Corruption Investigation Bureau. We intend to quickly request a staff hearing from the National Assembly.”

Candidate Oh was appointed to the Busan District Court in 1998 and served as chief judge of the Ulsan District Court.

The president’s office said: “We have accumulated experience and expertise in various fields for 20 years” and that “we made a careful decision considering fairness and reliability.”

During the long absence of the agency head, which lasted almost 100 days, the Corruption Investigation Bureau was criticized for the slow progress of important investigations, such as the suspicion of external pressure in the case of Corporal Chae.

Today, Yoo Jae-eun, legal head of the Ministry of National Defense, was summoned, a key figure in the suspicion of external pressure on the investigation.

In the National Assembly, opposition party pressure is growing on the management of special prosecutor Chae Caporal.

Regarding today’s appointment, an official from the president’s office retorted: “Both the accusation against former minister Lee Jong-seop and the proposed Special Prosecution Law were put forward last year” and “it is unfair to link the appointment of the President as head of the Corruption Investigation Bureau with the Special Prosecution Law.”

Furthermore, he argued, “it would be unfair to criticize him for obstructing the investigation and then criticize him for interfering with the investigation once he was appointed.”

The New Reform Party has stressed that it is suspected of attempting to internally suppress the candidate, and the Democratic Party has anticipated a thorough audit, saying it is doubtful that candidate Oh can conduct a fair investigation given his history of defending the allegations of electoral interference. by the secret services of Park Geun-hye’s government.

Candidate Oh Dong-woon said, “I feel a strong sense of responsibility for being appointed at a time when the Corruption Investigation Agency is in difficult times,” and said, “I will consider ways to gain trust of the public by fulfilling my responsibilities and role as an independent investigative agency.”

This is Lee Yong-ju from MBC News.

Video editor: Jang Ye-eun

#Defense #Special #Prosecutor #Corporal #Chae #appointed #Corruption #Investigation #Bureau #days