Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon took direct aim at President Lee Jae-myung, who posted on social media the results of asking a generative artificial intelligence tool for its view on whether Kim Ji-yong, head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, should attend Cabinet meetings. Han told the president to "stop being unreasonable and come to your senses."
Writing on Facebook on the 21st, Han said, "President Lee Jae-myung, even if you bring in Gemini's grandfather, directing investigations and directing prosecutions is not allowed."
"The person who is supposed to be president is, from the outset, turning the Major Crimes Investigation Agency into a 'lackey agency' and the Public Prosecution Agency into an 'operations agency,'" he said. "There is a reason South Korea has never seated investigative and prosecutorial agencies at Cabinet meetings. Was everyone except President Lee a fool?"
Lee had earlier posted an item titled "I asked Gemini" and shared the generative AI tool's answer on whether the heads of the Public Prosecution Agency and the Major Crimes Investigation Agency should attend Cabinet meetings. The answer included the line that "the argument that the heads of the Public Prosecution Agency and the Major Crimes Investigation Agency cannot attend Cabinet meetings, which denies Article 11 of the Government Organization Act, is an unconstitutional stretch."
It also said the claim that "the president should not have them attend the Cabinet meeting, an official meeting, even if he directs and supervises them" is a clear contradiction. "If they head agencies under the president's direction and supervision, having them formally attend the Cabinet meeting — the highest policy deliberation body under the Constitution — to coordinate state affairs and transparently discuss matters under their jurisdiction is consistent with constitutional accountability in politics," it said.
Na Kyung-won, a lawmaker of the People Power Party, also weighed in on Kim's attendance, saying "the person who investigates sat in front of people who could be investigated." She said, "No administration in history has seated the head of an investigative agency at a Cabinet meeting," calling it "a long-standing unwritten rule in constitutional history meant to protect the independence of investigations and political neutrality."
"The heads of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, the Public Prosecution Agency and the National Police Agency should no longer attend Cabinet meetings," she said. "The president should stop summoning the heads of investigative agencies and route any necessary instructions through the minister, following the chain of command."
"Investigative agencies are not presidential aides. An investigative agency that takes dictation will end up conducting investigations by dictation," she added. "If this continues, everyone attending the Cabinet meeting will become a target of investigation."