YOON TO SCRAP CIVIL SECRETARY OFFICE

[Anchor Lead]

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol says he will scrap the office of senior secretary for civil affairs at Cheong Wa Dae. He will instead review reactivating a special inspector system to prevent corruption involving high-ranking government officials and the president’s relatives.

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As the first step for his campaign promise to reorganize the presidential office, Yoon Suk-yeol announced a plan to do away with the office of senior secretary for civil affairs. He explained the office has been accused of controlling state inspection agencies to hold political opponents in check and conducting secret investigations into civilians. Yoon had openly brought up these issues during his campaign.

[Soundbite] Yoon Suk-yeol(President-Elect(Dec. 28, 2021)) : "The civil secretary office has completely gone off the rails, because it frequently controls political rivals under the guise of legitimate activities."

The office is tasked with conducting inspections and vetting public officials to keep discipline among government personnel. It also has a system to prevent corruption involving the president’s family and relatives. Questions have been raised as to what will replace this function of the office. Yoon says he is reviewing reactivating a special inspector system to curb possible corruption issues surrounding the president's relatives. Introduced in 2014, the special inspector is tasked with preventing corruption involving the president’s close relatives and senior presidential aides. But the position has remained vacant during the Moon administration.

[Soundbite] Kim Eun-hye(Spokesperson for President-Elect) : "It is an issue that the transition committee will discuss and report to the president-elect."

Yoon’s transition team will likely adjust the office’s job of verifying the qualifications of government personnel through the reorganization of the top office.