Ruling party set to revise law for anti-corruption body launch

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea said Thursday it would push ahead with its plan to launch an envisioned anti-corruption agency within this year by revising a law to override vetoes from the opposition party.

The revision procedures for the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, or CIO, will begin in earnest, Democratic Party Floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon said during the party’s policy meeting held at the National Assembly.

“We can’t get dragged into the opposition party’s attempt to derail the launch of the CIO anymore,” he said.

Stressing the necessity of the agency’s launch to stamp out irregularities of high-ranking public officials and reform the prosecution, Kim said the party would propose the revision to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

The revision is highly expected be dealt at a plenary session of the National Assembly slated for Dec. 2, if the party keeps moving forward with its plan.

He accused the main opposition People Power Party of abusing their veto power to further delay the appointment of the CIO chief.

On Wednesday, a seven-member panel consisting of three government officials and four outside experts recommended by the two parties ended their third and last meeting without a result.

They failed to choose two candidates out of nine legal professionals recommended to be the first chief of the CIO.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)