Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok on the 23rd called for independent and fair oversight of those around the presidency, saying the special inspector system that has been dormant for a decade will resume operating. He also pledged active legislative and policy support for the government's National Normalization Project.
Speaking at a party supreme council meeting at the National Assembly, Kim said the system would restart once the president makes the final appointment of special inspector nominee Choi Gil-soo. "I expect nominee Choi to carry out independent and fair inspections based on his experience and expertise," he said.
Kim noted that the president pledged during the election campaign to appoint a special inspector and guarantee substantive authority for the post, and has asked the National Assembly to move quickly on the process since taking office. He described this as a commitment to prevent corruption in advance through strict self-control and oversight. The special inspector independently investigates misconduct by the president's spouse, relatives within the fourth degree of kinship, and government officials at or above the level of senior presidential secretary, he said. "Given the abuse of power under the Park Geun-hye government and the corruption involving the president's spouse under the Yoon Suk-yeol government, the need for constant monitoring of those around power is clear," he said.
"The public's demand for fairness and integrity in power is grave," Kim said. "I trust he will carry out his duties with conviction, as he promised at the confirmation hearing to conduct inspections strictly and without any sanctuary, in accordance with law and principle."
Kim also welcomed the government's second National Normalization Project. The government selected 30 tasks, including stamping out bid-rigging, blocking technology theft, strengthening responses to insurance fraud and protecting victims of domestic violence, and reported them to the Cabinet meeting on the 20th.
"This is a program to block the loopholes that exploit institutional gaps and to resolve the inconvenience and unreasonableness that the public experiences in daily life," Kim said. "The Democratic Party will work with the Lee Jae-myung government to correct abnormal systems and practices, as well as illegal, improper and unlawful conduct." He added: "We strongly welcome the Lee Jae-myung government's efforts to build a fair and livable Republic of Korea. The party will join in with legislation and policy to speed up implementation and produce results."