Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung said on the 12th that he had ordered an internal inspection of Lim Eun-jung, head of the Gwangju regional office of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, "to determine whether this amounts to political activity using her position." Lim had publicly criticized Kim Ji-yong, the nominee for commissioner of the agency, saying "someone who should serve as a cautionary example must not be the agency's first case investigator." Yoon pushed back with a hard line, saying Lim "appears to be mistaken in thinking the agency is a political body." The agency launched this month and has yet to open its first investigation, yet an internal inspection has already begun — infighting that raises concern that ordinary citizens will be the ones who end up paying the price.
Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song said "sustainability is absolutely critical in fiscal policy," adding that he would "continue to voice views so that monetary and fiscal policy are managed in harmony." Shin made the remarks at a parliamentary audit on the 12th, responding to opposition lawmakers who said the central bank should put the brakes on loose fiscal expansion. Ruling party lawmakers, however, were busy defending more spending, saying "the tighter monetary policy becomes, the more aggressive fiscal policy should be" — raising concern that the mismatch between monetary and fiscal policy will only widen.