President Lee Approves Personnel Hearing Request for Kim Jiyong, Nominee for Serious Crimes Investigation Agency Chief

About a Month After Kim's Nomination
Proceeds with Appointment Despite Ruling Party Hardliners' Opposition

On the 1st, President Lee Jaemyung approved the request for a confirmation hearing for Kim Jiyong, the nominee for Director of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency.

Kang Yoojeong, Chief Presidential Spokesperson, announced this through a press briefing on the 2nd. The approval of the confirmation hearing request comes about a month after President Lee nominated Kim as the candidate.

Yonhap News Agency

Hardliners within the ruling party continued to oppose Kim’s nomination, citing his status as a so-called “pro-Yoon” (Yoon Suk-yeol friendly) prosecutor. However, the presidential office countered this claim the previous day, stating that an additional vetting process had found the allegation to be “completely untrue.” The office also said there was no evidence of wrongdoing regarding other controversies.

President Lee also explained via X (formerly Twitter) late at night on September 30 and in the early morning of October 1 that Kim is not a so-called pro-Yoon prosecutor. He further pointed out that “if an argument is based on lies, it is not criticism but slander.”

Despite President Lee’s approval of the confirmation hearing request, the Major Crimes Investigation Agency was launched on the 2nd without a director in place.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.