– “During the 2002 presidential election, Candidate Moo-Hyun Roh put the airlift as the core pledge of anti-corruption policy, and after the election, he promoted legislation.”
President Moon Jae-in said at a state council meeting on the 15th, which deliberated and decided on a bill on the establishment and operation of a high-ranking public officials criminal investigation office (airport office). It emphasized the legitimacy by referring to the history of the promotion of the airlift. However, the appearance of the airlift that the Roh Moo-hyun administration promoted and the airlift that is about to be launched is quite different. Airborne authorities are considered stronger and containment mechanisms are weakened.
① Airlift with the right to prosecute
– The appearance of the airborne agency promoted by the Roh Moo-hyun administration is contained in the 2004 Act on the establishment of a public office corruption investigation agency submitted by the government to the National Assembly. According to the bill at the time,’To supervise investigations on criminal acts of senior officials and their families… ‘It is only granting investigation rights to the airlift. However, if the prosecution judges that the prosecution is unreasonably disposing of prosecution to check the prosecution’s right to prosecute, the Minister of Public Affairs has allowed a fiscal application to the High Court.
– On the other hand, the Airlifting Act, legislated by the Moon Jae-in administration, provides both the right to investigate and prosecute the duties of the airlift as’investigation on crimes of high-ranking public officials’ and’prosecution and maintenance of prosecution’. This is the main reason why the Moon Jae-in administration’s law of airborne disposition is being criticized. When talking about the reform of the prosecutors’ office, they said, “Why do you give both the power of investigation and prosecution to the airlift, so that they can enjoy the power of nothingness.
This was also the idea of the Roh Moo-hyun administration. When the government drafted the airlift law in 2004, the Uri Party (currently the Democratic Party) insisted that the airlift should also be given the right to prosecute. Then Kang Geum-sil, then the Minister of Justice, said, “Wouldn’t it be necessary for the newly created high-ranking public officials corruption investigation department (currently the airlift) to repeat the failure due to the prosecution’s monopoly on prosecution?”
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②“If the nuclear power plant investigation, the airlift takes it… ”
– There is a big difference between the Roh Moo-Hyun administration’s airlift and the Moon Jae-in government’s airlift in relation to other organizations. The Roh Moo-hyun administration’s Airlift Law says that’the National Assembly, the auditor, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, and the Ministry of National Defense may request an investigation with the airlift in cases where the investigation is considered significant. This is a form in which another agency requests the airlift to investigate the case.
On the other hand, the Moon Jae-in government’s law on airlift includes a clause that states,’If (the head of the airlift) determines that it is appropriate to conduct an investigation and requests a transfer, the relevant investigating agency must comply with it.’ For example, while the prosecution is investigating a crime of a high-ranking public official, if the head of the public prosecutor asks for a surrender, the prosecution must hand over all the investigation data to the air defense department and remove his hand.
Young-soo Jang, a professor at the Graduate School of Law at Korea University, said, “Because of the agency’s right to request an espionage, the agency is viewed as a higher level agency of other investigative agencies.” He said, “There is no way to do anything that is unfavorable to the regime, such as the suspicion of intervention in the Ulsan mayoral election or the shutdown of the Wolseong Unit 1 nuclear power plant.
– The Roh Moo-hyun administration’s law of airlift was sent to the prosecution to be terminated even if a case requested by another agency was concluded to be innocent as a result of an investigation into the airlifter. The reason was explained as’allowing the prosecution to perform the control function of the airlift.’ The Moon Jae-in government’s airlift has no way to check the case even if it unfairly closes the case.
③ Even if the opposition party opposes, the chief of staff can be appointed
– In the Roh Moo-hyun administration’s Airlift Act,’the Dean is appointed by the President at the request of the Chairman of the National Integrity Committee after a resolution by the National Integrity Committee (currently the National Rights Committee).’ The integrity committee consists of 9 members. Among the members, three are appointed by the President, three are nominated by the National Assembly, and three are nominated by the President of the Supreme Court. The reason for the decision to go through the Integrity Committee was that the airlift was supposed to belong to the Integrity Committee. At the time, there were criticisms that the method of appointing the head of the airlift undermined neutrality.
The Democratic Party, which was pushing for legislation in the 20th National Assembly, emphasized the opposition party’s veto power and insisted that it could secure the neutrality of the airborne chief. At a meeting of the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Judicial Reform in June of last year, Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ju-min said, “The Minister of Public Service can make a candidate only when four-fifths (6) of seven nominating committees approve.” They can exercise their non-total rights (right to reject).”
– In fact, under the Airborne Ministry Act, which took effect in July, the Committee for Recommendation of Candidate for the Minister of Airlift is composed of a total of 7 people, including 2 people recommended by the ruling party and 2 people recommended by the opposition party. The President appoints one of them as the head of the airlift. If two opposition nominating committee members exercised their veto, a specific person could not be recommended as a candidate. However, on the 10th, the Democratic Party revised the Airlift Act and changed the requirements for nomination of candidates for the Airborne Minister, which had been ‘6 or more members’, to’more than two-thirds of the current members’. Even if two opposition nominating committee members refused, it became possible to recommend the head of the airlift.
Reporter Yoon Seongmin [email protected]
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