Presidential office to end excessive policy audits of previous administration, minimize abuse of authority probes

The presidential office said it will abolish policy audits targeting the previous administration and take a more cautious approach to investigations involving abuse of authority on July 24. A task force led by Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Bong Wook (pictured) will be launched to implement these reforms within 100 days as part of efforts to improve the culture of public service. The move is seen as an indication that the government intends to hold back on auditing or investigating the previous Yoon Suk-yeol administration for abuse of authority.

President Lee Jae-myung, presiding over a senior aides' meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, said, “We must never allow public servants who work hard to be discouraged or harassed under the pretext of policy audits or investigations.” He added, “With every change of administration, even reasonable and necessary administrative actions have often become targets of excessive audits or probes. As a result, public officials now avoid doing anything beyond the bare minimum.”

Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik explained in a briefing after the meeting that “the administration will push five key reform tasks to improve the organizational culture of the public sector.”

The first of these, Kang said, is to “end the harmful practice of excessive policy audits and instead promote proactive governance.” He added, “We will break the vicious cycle in which a new administration audits the policies of its predecessor, leading to a rigid and risk-averse bureaucracy.” In a separate briefing, Secretary Bong said, “We plan to revise the system so that past policy decisions are no longer subject to policy audits. This will involve discussions with the Board of Audit and Inspection on how to revise its internal regulations.”

Policy audits by the Board of Audit and Inspection have often been used as a tool of political control during transitions of power. The Yoon administration, for example, drew controversy by launching audits into the previous administration’s energy policy, including alleged manipulation of economic assessments related to the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant in Gyeongju.

By abolishing such audits, the Lee administration appears to be aiming to avoid accusations of political retaliation during transitions of power. The presidential office said that it plans to amend regulations governing the audit body’s practices in coordination with the Board of Audit and Inspection, and in the meantime, will refrain from launching broad audits of policies enacted under the previous government.

Kang also said that the government will pursue legal revisions to prevent abuse of authority investigations from being misused. “We must handle investigations into abuse of authority with greater caution,” he said. The crime of abuse of authority has frequently been invoked by prosecutors after regime changes, often tying up public servants in extensive legal battles.

Secretary Bong noted that “at some point, prosecutions for abuse of authority, interpreted extremely broadly, began to increase significantly,” adding that the government will review legislation to clarify the overly broad legal definition and minimize room for misuse. The presidential office plans to work with the National Assembly, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Government Legislation on these revisions.

This move is also being seen as a step toward prosecutorial reform, aimed at curbing the power of prosecutors who have frequently used the charge to initiate wide-reaching investigations and indictments. Regarding prosecutorial reform, Bong said, “We will steadily push forward with the separation of investigative and prosecutorial powers,” adding, “The President also mentioned during a press conference that the framework for the reform plan could be unveiled before the Chuseok holiday.”

Additional reform plans include improving the treatment of junior military and civil servants, overhauling the government’s on-call duty system, and expanding reward and promotion opportunities for public officials.

The presidential office also presented a 100-day timeline for implementing key reforms. “We aim to achieve measurable results within 100 days in the areas of policy audit abolition, legal revisions on abuse of authority, reforming the on-call duty system, and expanding civil service rewards,” Kang said. The task force will be led by Bong and include officials from the Offices of Fiscal Planning, Balanced Personnel Policy, Appointments, Local Autonomy, Public Service Discipline, and Judicial Affairs. Reforms requiring budget allocation, such as improving compensation for public servants and overhauling the on-call duty system, will be reflected in next year’s national budget proposal.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said that in order to ensure fairness in presidential appointments, a personnel committee chaired by the presidential chief of staff is currently in operation. “We’re reinforcing procedural standards to meet public expectations,” she said. “In the case of presidential aides, we haven’t necessarily reviewed all of their published works or scrutinized specific expressions in their writings, but we now plan to expand the scope of our reviews to include them. If there are any aspects that don't meet public expectations, we will enhance procedural thoroughness.”

※This article was translated by an AI tool and edited by a professional translator.