Kim Ji-yong confirmation hearing report adopted; appointment set to proceed after internal dispute within ruling camp

[Financial News]  The Serious Crime Investigation Agency, which launched without a chief, is expected to welcome its first chief about two weeks after opening.
On the 15th, the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee adopted the confirmation hearing report for Kim Ji-yong, nominee to become the first chief of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. It came 37 days after President Lee Jae-myung nominated Kim on the 8th of last month, and 13 days after the agency launched under an acting chief. All that remains for Kim is President Lee's approval of the appointment.
Since his nomination, Kim has faced opposition from prosecution-reform hard-liners within the broader ruling camp. They questioned whether the newly established agency, created as part of prosecution reform, could be entrusted to someone from the prosecution who had also joined a 2020 statement calling for reconsideration of disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon Suk Yeol. Kim's handling of cases while serving in the prosecution also came under scrutiny.
President Lee, who had ordered additional vetting, later personally defended Kim. On September 30, he wrote on social media, “Not pro-Yoon; if anything, the anti-Yoon record is already fully confirmed by media reports.” Then, on the 1st, he approved the request for a confirmation hearing, allowing the appointment process to continue.
The conflict over Kim's nomination also spread within the agency. Lim Eun-jung, chief of the Gwangju branch of the agency, who had publicly criticized Kim, became the target of the agency's “first internal inspection.” On the 12th, the agency launched an inspection of Lim at the direction of Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung. At the hearing, Kim said he had no intention of getting involved in the inspection.
Despite the president's support, views within the ruling camp were divided at the confirmation hearing on the 14th, which lasted about 11 hours and 30 minutes. Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Ju-min criticized Kim's past handling of cases, saying, “I have serious doubts about whether the nominee is truly suitable to serve as the first head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency.” By contrast, lawmakers from the pro-Lee faction defended Kim as an “anti-Yoon independent-minded figure” who was demoted after the Yoon Suk Yeol administration took office. The People Power Party went on the attack, highlighting that opposition to the nominee had also emerged within the ruling camp.
Kim strongly denied being a “pro-Yoon prosecutor.” He explained that he had joined the statement calling for reconsideration of Yoon's disciplinary action to object to the procedure, which had not heard the person concerned's account at the time.
He said that, if given the opportunity to serve as head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, he would faithfully uphold the principle of separating investigation and prosecution, adding, “The agency will never become one with the prosecution again, and I will definitely prevent the politicization of investigations.” 

[email protected] Lee Bo-mi Reporter