South Korea's new Serious Crimes Investigation Agency filled its leadership vacancy two weeks after launching with the appointment of Kim Ji-yong as its first commissioner, but concerns over the agency's political neutrality remain. Political cases now under investigation by the Public Prosecution Service are expected to be transferred to the agency in large numbers soon, and criminal complaints targeting political figures are also arriving one after another. Officials inside and outside the agency worry it could be drawn into politically charged investigations before its organization and investigative systems are fully in place.
President Lee Jae-myung was recently named in a criminal complaint filed by a civic group over a suspected landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone along the western front, alongside military leaders including Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul and former Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, according to legal sources on the 16th. The case has been assigned to the anti-corruption investigation bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and is under review. Complaints involving Lim Eun-sook, head of the Gwangju Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, and Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won have also been assigned to the agency.
Lim faces a complaint alleging defamation through false statements over her claim that Kim covered up a sexual misconduct case involving Jin Dong-gyun, a former prosecutor and brother-in-law of independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon. Park has been accused of disclosing the identity of a whistleblower surnamed Cho, who reported alleged lobbying of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety linked to Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won.
With the agency handling politically sensitive cases from its earliest days, the independence of its investigations is already being tested. At his confirmation hearing on the 14th, Kim said an investigation would be possible if a complaint were filed over allegations that Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de misused official expense funds.
Unease is also evident within the agency. Some investigators who chose to join in order to focus on specialized work, away from controversy over political investigations, say they are concerned about taking on sensitive cases before the organization has even settled. "Financial crime takes time to produce results, and drug crime draws relatively little attention," one legal source said. "In the end, there is a possibility that cases tied to politics will be at the center of the agency's early investigations."
Arriving for his first day on the job, Kim said he would "firmly establish political neutrality and investigative independence." He ordered the creation of a task force to help the organization settle in quickly, along with an overhaul of staffing, facilities and investigative systems.