The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) plans to push for a bill aimed at strengthening the government’s personnel vetting system, officials said Tuesday, after the appointment of a new national investigation chief was canceled following revelations of his son’s school bullying.
The DP will table a bill stipulating the presidential office or the Ministry of Personnel Management do the vetting process, not the justice ministry, the party’s top policymaker, Rep. Kim Sung-hwan, has said.
Under the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol, the presidential office transferred its vetting system to the justice ministry despite the DP’s objection, saying it is not the job of the presidential office to dig up information on people.
The DP’s push came after Yoon nullified the appointment of Chung Sun-sin, a prosecutor-turned-lawyer, as chief of the National Office of Investigation, after media reports showed Chung’s son had been punished for school bullying.
From the beginning, Chung’s appointment drew criticism because it meant putting a former prosecutor, not someone from police, in charge of all police investigations. Critics said the appointment was yet another example of Yoon’s preference for people with prosecution backgrounds.
What dealt a critical blow to the appointment were revelations that Chung’s son had verbally abused one of his peers for eight months in high school and was ordered to transfer schools, and the parents had even filed a lawsuit to get the transfer order reversed, only to lose.
DP floor leader Park Hong-keun accused presidential officials and the justice ministry, currently in charge of the vetting process, of protecting its own people in the case, noting many of them used to be a member of the prosecution, as well as Chung.
Yoon has called for breaking the cartel of the vested interests to create a fairer society, but the strongest cartel is those close to Yoon, the DP floor leader said in a party meeting.
DP Rep. Kang Deuk-gu called for legislating a so-called Chung Sun-sin’s son prevention bill to reflect students’ record of school violence in the college admission process.
Chung’s son was found to have entered Seoul National University, one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea, despite his record of school bullying, sparking public criticism.
“President Yoon should issue an official apology to the people and hold Minister Han to account as he is in charge of the vetting system,” Kang said, noting that school violence is a “serious problem that can destroy a person life, and furthermore, a family.”
On Tuesday, the ruling People Power Party floor leader, Rep. Joo Ho-young, also said those in charge of the vetting process should take responsibility over Chung’s case.
“There is a big hole in the personnel vetting function,” Joo said, calling on the vetting officials to figure out why they missed the school violence record of Chung’s son.
Source: Yonhap News Agency