SCIA chief attends State Council meeting for third straight week ... controversy over investigative agencies’ neutrality continues

[Financial News] Kim Ji-yong, chief of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SCIA), has sat in on the State Council meeting for three consecutive weeks.
Kim attended the State Council meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae on the 3rd. After receiving the letter of appointment on the 19th of last month, Kim also sat in on State Council meetings on the following day, the 20th, and on the 27th.
Also attending the meeting that day were Kim, Lee Jeong-hyeon, acting prosecutor general, and Kim Jong-chul, acting commissioner of the Korean National Police Agency.
At the meeting, President Lee asked, “The people from the law enforcement agencies are here, right?” and checked whether Kim and the others were in attendance. Lee then urged them to dispel concerns over the recent transition in the criminal justice system.
Given the need to preserve political neutrality and the independence of investigations, it was customary under previous administrations for the heads of investigative agencies, including the prosecutor general and the commissioner of the Korean National Police Agency, not to sit in on State Council meetings unless there were special circumstances.
However, the practice began to change late last year, when President Lee ordered the heads of law enforcement agencies to attend State Council meetings. Koo Ja-hyun, who was then acting prosecutor general, began sitting in on the meetings in January this year, and Kim has also been attending since the SCIA was launched.
Opposition parties, including the People Power Party, have criticized the attendance of law enforcement agency heads at State Council meetings, saying it could undermine the independence and political neutrality of investigative agencies. President Lee, however, maintains that attendance at the meetings does not in itself compromise the neutrality of investigative agencies.
 

[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter