President Lee Jae Myung turned to Google's artificial intelligence assistant Gemini to defend his plans to invite the chiefs of two newly established agencies to attend Cabinet meetings, a move that would flip a decadeslong convention.
In a post on X on Wednesday titled "I asked Gemini," Lee wrote that calls to exclude the heads of the newly established Public Prosecution Office and Serious Crimes Investigation Agency from Cabinet meetings are "a sophistry that directly denies the president’s administrative oversight authority and the government leadership structure."
Lee cited both the Constitution and the Government Organization Act, which stipulates that the president is responsible for directing and supervising the heads of all central administrative agencies, and that the head of a state administrative body is able to attend Cabinet meetings and discuss matters under their jurisdiction.
Kim Ji-yong is the chief of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. The position of chief of the Public Prosecution Office is vacant.
Lee wrote that allowing Kim to attend Cabinet meetings "aligns with constitutional responsible government," adding that any attempt to block the plan would "place investigative and prosecutorial bodies outside of democratic control."
Lee's political opponents claim that allowing the two agency chiefs to attend Cabinet meetings could give the public the impression that these authorities are under the president's control.
This in line with concerns raised by conservative politicians that the liberal bloc's move to split the prosecution into two could allow powerful politicians to steer clear of checks and balances against their power.
Meanwhile, some suggested that the title of the post implied that parts of it were generated by Gemini.
Main opposition People Power Party Rep. Na Kyung-won reacted to the post via her Facebook account, writing: "The President’s level of competence is truly appalling. He uses Gemini to elicit biased answers through loaded questions, then posts them on X."
"Is the president making decisions on state affairs by asking Gemini? It’s absolutely staggering," she added.
Na said she had also asked Gemini to help her make the case that investigative authorities should not sit in on Cabinet meetings, but wrote: "This poses a grave risk of undermining core constitutional values in a democratic society, namely, the 'quasi-judicial nature' and 'political neutrality' of such functions."
Independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon, who was formerly the chair of the People Power Party, also responded via his social media.
"Even if you were to bring in Gemini's grandfather, a president cannot direct investigations or prosecutions," Han wrote on his Facebook Wednesday.
"Why would none of the former presidents have not kept investigative and prosecutorial authorities from sitting in during Cabinet meetings? Do you honestly believe everyone else was just a fool? Stop with the absurd rationalizations and come to your senses."
consnow@heraldcorp.com