Prosecutors said Tuesday that they will launch a task force to probe corruption allegations of a presidential aide, as well as a suspected information leak by a special inspector who investigated the suspicions.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam designated Yun Gap-geun, head of the Daegu High Prosecutors’ Office, to lead the team.

The decision came amid a dispute over Lee Seok-su, a Cheong Wa Dae-appointed special inspector who had been digging into corruption charges involving Woo Byung-woo, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs.

Since last week, Lee has been under fire upon news reports that he illegally leaked probe-related information to the media.
Woo, meanwhile, will be probed for the alleged abuse of power to provide special benefits to his son in military service and suspected misappropriation of funds of a company that his family set up.

Despite mounting calls for Woo to step down, as the opposition contends he is in a position to influence the prosecution’s investigation, Cheong Wa Dae has continued to block such calls.

Rival parties have also locked horns over the introduction of an exclusive probe unit.

The ruling Saenuri Party leadership, while signaling some consent to the need for Woo’s resignation, denounced the opposition’s idea of an independent counsel, calling it a political trick to set the ground for the battle leading up to the presidential election next year.

National Assembly speaker Chung Sye-kyun joined the fray by saying on Monday that Woo’s case should be handed over to a special prosecutor so that the presidential house and political parties may focus on more urgent agendas.

The Saenuri Party immediately shot back.

“It is against the National Assembly Act for the parliamentary speaker to openly side with the opposition,” Saenuri floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk said Tuesday at a party meeting.

“How can we expect the speaker to play his given role as mediator, if he backs the opposition 100 percent.”

Speaker Chung has currently defected from The Minjoo Party of Korea due to his parliamentary post and its obligation of political neutrality.

“(The introduction of an independent counsel) requires the approval of the full parliamentary floor and the Saenuri Party clearly holds a different view with the opposition on this issue,” the floor leader added.

Chung Jin-suk remained stern against Woo, suggesting last week that it may be time for the president to let the senior secretary go, as he would face a prosecutorial probe over his alleged abuse of power.

“I, along with a majority of our party members, think that it is inappropriate for an incumbent senior presidential secretary to answer prosecutorial questioning,” he told reporters last week.

He had also posted on his Facebook account earlier that day that “it is time for Woo to make the big decision and to argue for his innocence as a civilian (not as a Blue House official).”

The dispute regarding Woo also appears to have spilled over to National Police Agency chief nominee Lee Chul-sung, who is under fire for his past criminal record of drunk driving. It was Woo who, as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, had vetted Lee.

But the presidential office gestured at going ahead with the police chief’s nomination.

“(Lee’s appointment) will take place as according to legal procedures,” presidential spokesperson Jung Youn-kuk told reporters.

The Assembly has failed to wrap up its review on Lee within the 20-day deadline, upon which the president can request a report on the parliamentary hearing on a nominee. If the Assembly fails to send the report, the president can bypass the parliamentary step and make the final appointment.

By Bae Hyun-jung(tellme@heraldcorp.com)