During a National Assembly audit of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, a heated debate arose over the neutrality of senior officials in the Major Crime Investigation Agency (MCIA).
On October 6, during the audit by the National Assembly's Administrative Safety Committee, Joo Ho-young, a member of the People Power Party, raised concerns about the past records of Jeon Jong-min, the deputy chief of the MCIA, and Moon Hong-joo, the head of the Daejeon MCIA. Jeon previously handled cases related to the college admission scandal involving the children of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and a lawsuit concerning the dismissal of Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Seong-yun, while Moon served as a special prosecutor's assistant in the Kim Geon-hee special investigation.
Joo criticized, "Can someone who has only represented individuals connected to a specific political party be considered neutral?" He further accused the agency of appointing only his allies during the current reorganization.
In response, Minister Yoon Ho-jung stated that the officials had defended individuals who were victims of biased and unjust investigations by the prosecution, and he retorted, "Are you suggesting we should use the Yoon Seok-yeol prosecution?"
Concerns were also raised regarding the composition of key personnel, which is predominantly filled by former judges and prosecutors. Kim Young-bae, a member of the Democratic Party, pointed out that seven of the MCIA's first-level investigators are former judges or prosecutors, with no police officers among them.
Minister Yoon responded, stating, "First-level investigators have a mandatory retirement age of 60, unlike the politically appointed chief, and there are only seven police officers at the level of police chief." He added that it was difficult to request former police officers to join the agency.
The issue of not filling the agency's positions before its establishment was also brought to light. The MCIA began operations on October 2 with only 1,900 of its total 2,874 positions filled, which is 66.1% of its capacity.
Minister Yoon outlined future plans, stating, "We aim to fill about 15% of the remaining positions through competitive hiring of police officers, lawyers, legal professionals, and accountants." He added that the remaining 10% would be kept vacant for new hires next year.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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