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Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials

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Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials
CIO
Gowigongjikja beomjoesusacheo (Gongsucheo)
고위공직자범죄수사처
高位公職者犯罪搜査處
Agency overview
FormedJanuary 21, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-01-21)
JurisdictionGovernment of South Korea
HeadquartersGwacheon Government complex
Employees25 prosecutors of the Investigative Department(including the head of the department and the deputy director),
40 investigators,
20 general administrative positions
Agency executives
  • Oh Dong-woon, Director
  • vacancy (acting Song Chang-jin), Deputy Director
Parent departmentIndependent Agency
Websitecio.go.kr

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (Korean: 고위공직자범죄수사처; Hanja: 高位公職者犯罪搜査處; RR: Gowigongjikja beomjoesusacheo), or CIO in short, is an independent agency of the South Korean government responsible for prosecuting crimes and investigating allegations involving "high-ranking officials" or their direct family members.

The CIO is expected to police almost 6,500 "high-ranking officials" - incumbent and former - and their spouses and children. The Act specifies the posts as high-ranking government officials, including but not limited to parliamentarians, prosecutors, judges and even the President. However, its investigative authority limits to cases related to certain crimes defined by the Act leaving other sorts of allegations and crimes - sexual harassment case for instance[1] - to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office for investigation and prosecution.[2]

History

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The Act on establishment and operation of CIO was passed by the parliament in December 2019[3] and taken into force in July 2020. However, due to the then opposition party's refusal to cooperate by not nominating their own share of members of the CIO head nomination committee, it had not initiated operations by its legally mandated date of 1 July 2020.[1]

In February 2020, the Constitutional Court of Korea agreed to hear the case filed by the opposition party against its establishment.[4] After breaking the law to announce its ruling in less than 180 days from the day it agreed to hear the case,[5] the Court found the CIO's establishment law constitutional in January 2021.[6]

In December 2020, the CIO head nomination committee recommended two candidates to the President Moon - both initially recommended by the President of Bar Association.[7][8] On January 21, 2021, Kim Jin-wook, a former judge and Kim & Chang lawyer, was appointed as the first head of the CIO.[9]

On March 4, 2021, Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol offered to resign over objections on the CIO's creation as some of their powers would be taken from the Supreme Prosecutor's Office.[10]

By May, 2021, the office finished the appointment of 13 prosecutors and 18 investigators, of the possible maximum of 23 and 40 respectively. [11]

Organization

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The head of CIO is appointed by the President among two candidates recommended by the nomination committee. The committee is composed of Minister of Justice, Minister of National Court Administration, President of Korean Bar Association and four members - two recommended by the ruling party and the other by the opposition.[12] As any of the final two candidates must be agreed by all six committee members, its two members recommended by the opposition party - and the opposition party broadly - are considered to have a veto power over the selection of CIO chief.[13][14] After the first nomination committee entered gridlock as two members recommended by the opposition party exercised their veto power for all candidates recommended by other five members, the ruling party successfully pushed a legislative amendment to change the condition. The amended Act now requires the nomination committee to form only 5 of the 7 total possible votes - effectively removing veto power of the opposition party - to choose the final two candidates.

The law allows for a maximum of 25 prosecutors, including the office head and deputy.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Corruption investigation agency now official but not ready". The Korea Times. 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  2. ^ "South Korea Set to Launch Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials & Its Implications". www.shinkim.com. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  3. ^ Jung-a, Song (30 December 2019). "South Korea passes bill to set up anti-corruption agency". Financial Times. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  4. ^ "헌재, '공수처법 위헌 여부' 전원재판부 회부해 심리 착수". m.lawtimes.co.kr (in Korean). 2020-04-13. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  5. ^ "[2020 국감] 법사위 '공수처법 위헌 사건' 판단 지연은 헌재 '직무유기'". www.polinews.co.kr (in Korean). 8 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  6. ^ "[속보] 헌재, 공수처법 '합헌' 결정…청구 일부는 각하". KBS News (in Korean). Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  7. ^ "Process begins to select head of new anticorruption agency". Korea JoongAng Daily. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  8. ^ "공수처장 최종 2인 추천된 김진욱·이건리 누구?". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 2020-12-28. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  9. ^ "Moon appoints inaugural chief of corruption probe agency". 21 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Top prosecutor steps down". 4 March 2021.
  11. ^ "고위공직자범죄수사처". cio.go.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  12. ^ "고위공직자범죄수사처설치및운영에관한법률". www.law.go.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  13. ^ "Parties in process to pick inaugural chief of new anti-corruption probe body". The Korea Herald. 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  14. ^ "Transparency International-Korea Statement Urging Launch of Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO)". Transparency International korea. 2020-10-13. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
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