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| Cho Kuk, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, answers questions from lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul on Dec. 31, regarding a recent scandal surrounding an allegation that Cheong Wa Dae engaged in illegal surveillance activity on civilians. / Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
Cheong Wa Dae plans to tighten its internal discipline, forcing officials to abide by a zero-tolerance policy toward any kinds of corruption by overhauling a special inspection team inside the presidential house, it said, Thursday.
The plan came amid an ongoing allegation that the presidential office has conducted illegal surveillance activities on civilians.
"Even after the controversy erupted, Cheong Wa Dae has chosen to deal with the incident according to law and principles despite political burden, rather than cover up the case," the civil affairs' office of the presidential house said in a statement.
On top of that, Cheong Wa Dae has since stood up to strong criticisms from opposition parties and some media outlets by actively getting the facts straight in a fair and transparent manner, the statement said.
"We will continue to make sure discipline in public offices is reinforced by clarifying the role of our inspection team," it said.
The controversy reached its peak in December when the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) unveiled documents written by Kim Tae-woo, a former special investigator from Cheong Wa Dae. The documents included detailed action plans allegedly by Cheong Wa Dae to surveil high-ranking government officials, opinion leaders and top company executives.
Kim insisted he was reassigned from the presidential office after reporting a bribery allegation involving Woo Yoon-keun, the Korean ambassador to Russia. Woo is one of President Moon Jae-in's close aides.
Cheong Wa Dae flatly denied the argument, saying the documents are far from the truth, adding the truth will be revealed once the ongoing investigation into Kim and the scandal are over.
As of Thursday, the prosecution has carried out four investigations into Kim in order to verify his accusations.
With the controversy showing little sign of abating, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk pledged last month to confront the scandal. From the beginning of the controversy, the presidential house has maintained a position that it has never carried out any illegal surveillance on any ranking political figures as well as civilians and questioned the documents' credibility.
Cho said the special inspection team of the Moon Jae-in administration has never taken any "compulsive measures" in any cases.
Under the revamped drive, the presidential house said it would adjust the main function of its internal inspection team with the focus on preventing a pattern of corruption, such as bribery and the leaking of confidential information.
In a New Year's press conference, President Moon Jae-in said the role of Cheong Wa Dae's special investigation team is to inspect any illegal acts of public officials and their possible abuse of authority.
"It is a social problem over whether Kim's acts are beyond his authority and position," Moon told reporters. "This is the subject of the investigation."
