President Lee: “I asked Gemini” ... rebuts controversy over SCIA chief’s attendance at Cabinet meetings

[Financial News] On the 21st, President Lee released an answer from an artificial intelligence (AI) system stating that “the argument that the heads of the Prosecution Agency and the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (SCIA) cannot attend Cabinet meetings, in denial of Article 11 of the Government Organization Act, is unconstitutional sophistry,” amid controversy over their attendance. The move is seen as a rebuttal, based on the Constitution and the law, to claims that their attendance should be restricted on the grounds of the independence of investigative and prosecutorial agencies.
That day, President Lee shared an answer generated by Google’s generative AI Gemini along with a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account that read, “I asked Gemini.”
Gemini said in its response that “the argument that the heads of the Prosecution Agency and the SCIA should be excluded from Cabinet meetings is sophistry that directly denies the president’s administrative oversight authority and the government’s chain of command, as set out in the Constitution and the Government Organization Act.”
Gemini went on to cite Article 66, Paragraph 4 of the Constitution and Article 11 of the Government Organization Act, among other provisions, explaining that the president, as head of government, has the authority to direct and supervise the heads of all central administrative agencies.
President Lee also shared Gemini’s remarks, which said: “The argument that they should not be allowed to attend the Cabinet meeting, an official meeting, even if they are directed and supervised by the president is an obvious contradiction. If they are heads of agencies subject to the president’s direction and supervision, formally attending the Cabinet meeting—the Constitution’s highest policy deliberative body—to coordinate state affairs as a whole and transparently discuss matters within their remit is consistent with constitutionally responsible governance.” Gemini also said, “Blocking this would merely be a dangerous idea aimed at neutralizing the president’s administrative oversight authority guaranteed by law and placing investigative and prosecutorial bodies outside democratic control, in a ‘secretive sanctuary beyond the law.’”
Earlier, Kim Ji-yong, the first head of the SCIA, attended a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Lee for the first time on the 20th. The acting head of the Prosecution Agency and the acting commissioner general of the National Police Agency also sat in on the meeting. Some raised concerns that this could undermine the political neutrality and independence of investigative and prosecutorial agencies.
At a Cabinet meeting on the 13th, President Lee had also stated that the heads of investigative and prosecutorial agencies attending Cabinet meetings was a matter of course under the Constitution and the Government Organization Act. That day, he again directly refuted the opposing argument.
After sharing Gemini’s response, President Lee posted again, stressing, “The heads of all agencies, including the Korea Forest Service, the National Fire Agency (NFA) and the Korea Coast Guard, attend and take part in discussions. Correcting the mistaken perception and practice of treating agencies with investigative powers as a special case is also part of normalizing what has become abnormal.”
He also said, “The SCIA and the Prosecution Agency are simply agencies whose chiefs are subject to the direction of the president, the prime minister and ministers. Just as I don’t give ministers specific instructions on permits and approvals, I won’t direct investigations into specific cases, so there is no need to worry.”
 

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