With the infamous bribery scandal involving a top presidential aide showing no signs of abating, a prominent politician from the ruling party Sunday voiced his approval of building an independent anti-corruption agency, despite vehement opposition from his party leadership.

Kim Moon-soo, a former Gyeonggi Province governor and a presidential hopeful within the ruling Saenuri Party, claimed that in order to eradicate high-profile corruption scandals, it is crucial to build an independent body dedicated to probing senior officials’ wrongdoing.

His remarks were presented in a video clip on his Facebook account, in which Kim referred to Woo Byung-woo, the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs who has been dogged by a series of dubious financial deals and alleged influence-peddling.

Kim’s stance stood at odds with the Saenuri Party which has considered such an organization as politically-motivated, claiming that lawmakers would be granted the authority to investigate a case without the consent of judiciary and executive bodies.

The feud escalated Thursday when Assembly Spearker Chung Sye-kyun brought up the issue in his parliamentary speech. The Saenuri members left the general meeting hall in protest and demanded that the speaker step down in apology of his remarks that leaned toward the opposition.

The bill on the independent probe agency was introduced in August, upon the motion of 71 lawmakers from the The Minjoo Party and the People’s Party. According to the draft, an independent investigation may be launched when one-tenth of the 300-member Parliament calls for the process.

By Yeo Jun-suk(jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)