DP adopts confirmation hearing report on chief prosecutor nominee

The Democratic Party of Korea (DP) on Monday unilaterally adopted a confirmation report on prosecutor-general nominee Kim Oh-soo. President Moon Jae-in is expected to approve the appointment of the top prosecutor nominee on Tuesday. Prosecutor-general nominee Kim has become the latest in a list of 33 ministerial-level officials whose confirmation report was unilaterally adopted by the ruling party under the Moon Jae-in administration.

Meanwhile, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee under the National Assembly adopted the confirmation report on the same day in a full session, which was boycotted by the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers. The session did not last three minutes from the start to the end. Rep. Park Joo-min of the ruling party took the place of party leader Yoon Ho-joong. After the session, Rep. Park said they were not in the place to accept the opposition party’s demand to hold a confirmation hearing on the top prosecutor nominee again since a confirmation hearing had already been held once and the deadline set by the law had expired. “We had no choice but to hold the session today,” Rep. Park said. “We waited for 10 minutes in the beginning of the session but (the opposition party lawmakers) did not come so we moved forward with it.”

A confirmation hearing on prosecutor-general nominee Kim was held on Wednesday but eventually went awry after arguments between ruling and opposition party lawmakers almost escalated into a scuffle. President Mon asked lawmakers to send a confirmation report of the top prosecutor nominee by May 31. The PPP argued that the hearing must be resumed in order to adopt a confirmation report but the ruling party unilaterally adopted a report.

The PPP lawmakers of the Judiciary Committee protested fiercely. “The unilateral action by the DP showed the essence of parliamentary dictatorship beyond arrogance and self-righteousness,” PPP lawmakers said. “The rule of law in this country has been annihilated because of the immoral and lawless actions by the Moon Jae-in administration, and justice for fairness has lost its place.”


Dong-Jun Heo hungry@donga.com