On May 16, the Presidential Office responded to criticisms regarding the prosecutor’s personnel appointments, which have been raised not only by the opposition but also by some within the ruling party, saying, “It was a matter of timing.”
An official from the Presidential Office stated in a phone call that day, “This was a necessary personnel appointment. It was a question of timing, whether to act now or later.” He emphasized that the prosecutor’s appointments made on May 13 were overdue regular appointments. On May 13, the prosecution conducted promotions and transfers for 39 prosecutors, including the Prosecutor General and Prosecutor’s Office. All command structures were also replaced, including the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office and the 1st to 4th prosecutors who were in charge of investigating cases related to South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon Hee, such as the luxury bag bribery suspicion and the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case.
The opposition, including the Democratic Party, is intensifying its criticism by suggesting the Presidential Office’s possible involvement and claiming that this personnel appointment acts as a bulletproof vest for Kim.
Park Chan Dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, previously claimed, “It’s a flare signaling that they will tighten their grip on the prosecution and stand bulletproof for Kim.”While the leadership of the People Power Party officially maintains the position that the prosecutor’s personnel appointments will thwart the investigation, as the controversy grows, members of the emergency response committee such as Representative Ahn Cheol Soo and Kim Yong Tae are adding to the criticism.
Appearing on CBS Radio’s Kim Hyun Jung’s News Show that morning, Ahn spoke on the prosecutor’s personnel appointments, “I wish they hadn’t done anything that could be misunderstood by the people, and that’s regrettable.” Kim expressed regret on SBS Radio’s Kim Tae Hyun’s Politics Show the previous day, saying, “I wish they had been aware of the people’s backlash regarding the prosecutor’s personnel appointments and been more observant.”
The Presidential Office responded to the Democratic Party’s push for reintroducing the special prosecutor law for the First Lady, following the recent prosecutor’s personnel appointment, by stating, “Isn’t it just that the grounds for introducing the special prosecutor law have been added?”
This comment seems to suggest that the Democratic Party is strategically using this personnel appointment, as they have publicly advocated for the reintroduction of the special prosecutor law for Kim in the 22nd National Assembly.