(ATTN: UPDATES with president's remarks in last para)
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office on Thursday refuted media criticism that the chief of the new investigative body attending Cabinet meetings could compromise impartiality and independence in investigations.
The response came amid growing media criticism after Kim Ji-yong, chief of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (SCIA), attended Tuesday's Cabinet meeting for the first time since taking office, despite the long-held practice of investigation chiefs not attending such meetings.
In a social media post the previous day, President Lee Jae Myung said chiefs of all government institutions under his command could attend Cabinet meetings, but many media outlets pointed out that such a move could compromise the investigation chief's independence and impartiality in conducting investigations.
"The government is strenuously working toward maintaining fairness and political neutrality in investigations and independence in indictments. This principle will remain unwavering going forward," Lee's senior secretary for the press, Seong Ghi-hong, told reporters.
The official also made clear that no individual investigation cases or instructions on indictments would be discussed during Cabinet meetings.
"To make it clear, connecting Cabinet meeting attendance with political control of investigative bodies or interference in investigations is not at all in line with the goal of the government's Cabinet meetings," Seong noted, adding that such meetings are aimed at sharing the government's administrative philosophy and current issues with heads of government bodies.
President Lee Jae Myung attends a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Oct. 20, 2026. (Yonhap)
In another X post later Thursday, Lee reiterated that calls to exclude the SCIA chief from Cabinet meetings would run counter to the Constitution and common sense, arguing that doing so would mean giving up his command and supervision of the SCIA, which he said would constitute grounds for his impeachment and dereliction of duty subject to criminal punishment.
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