President Moon Jae-in is giving a letter of appointment to Kim Jin-wook, the first newly appointed Minister of Public Transport. Provided by the Blue House
President Moon Jae-in gave a letter of appointment to Kim Jin-wook, the first chief of the high-ranking public officials criminal investigation agency (KAI) on the 21st, saying, “If you show the war criminals in due process and human rights-friendly investigations, you will gain public trust.” In particular, President Moon said, “The expectations are high,” emphasizing the airlift that is independent from political and judicial institutions. The three-year term of the first Vice Minister-level Minister of Public Transport begins on this day. President Moon said in a conversation with Deputy Minister Kim after the conferment ceremony of the Minister of Public Service at the main building of the Blue House, “Please bring pride and sense of mission as a driving force that leads our society to a fairer and more corrupt society as a protector of the transparency and integrity of the high-ranking public service society.” The Blue House spokesman Kang Min-seok said. President Moon continued, “As it is the first airlifter, it is important to gain public trust step by step. I think the most important virtues are neutrality and independence. Independence from politics and independence from existing agencies is important.” In addition, President Moon said, “In terms of developing a healthier overall investigation capability in Korea, it is very important to cooperate with the prosecutors to increase the investigation capability.” President Moon also thanked Deputy Director Kim, saying, “I salute you for actively accepting a very burdensome position that attracted many people’s attention during a critical period.” In response, Minister Kim replied, “I think that if the air defense agency gains public trust by laying the foundation for becoming an advanced investigative agency and a human rights-friendly agency, the prosecution’s current wrong investigation practices will also change.” At the same time, it is said that he brought out anecdotes from his days as a judge at the meeting room. In the case of the Kim Young-sam administration’s family of the Minister of Health and Welfare, he was the head judge of the second trial court, canceling the bail given by the first trial court, and arresting the accused in court. Kim recalled that the solidarity of participation at the time was a catalyst in the discussion of the airlift, such as making a statement urging the anti-corruption bill on the occasion of this incident, and said, “I think that relationship has become the historical force that has made this place.” Spokesman Kang said. The first head of the airlift was appointed after a pain revised last year to revisit the airlifting law, which was passed in late 2019 amid fierce opposition from the opposition, but it is expected that it will take some time before the actual airlifting agency is launched. Deputy Chief Kim enters the process of proposing a deputy chief as a person with more than 15 years of experience in the legal profession, such as judges, prosecutors, and lawyers. In fact, the direction of operation of the airlift can be determined according to who you choose as the conductor for the’steering wheel’ of the airlift. After that, a personnel committee was formed, and the procedures for selecting 23 prosecutors and 40 investigators were conducted. Among the 7 personnel committee members, 2 are also included in the opposition party’s recommendation. Candidate Kim predicted at a personnel hearing that “it will take at least two months for the investigation center to be completed.” On this day, the Participation Solidarity made a comment and said, “Candidate Jin-wook Kim, who has been in charge of the enormous task of being the first Airborne Chief, must never forget the citizens who longed for the airlift. “The participatory solidarity that first proposed the airlift 25 years ago will now shift to surveillance beyond urging and cheering for airlift.” By Lee Wan, staff reporter [email protected]