Democrats Accelerate Talent Recruitment, Hiring 'Prosecutor Rejecting Special Privileges'... Korean Party Remains "Stuck"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] The Democratic Party of Korea is accelerating its announcement of new talent recruitment. Following the recruitment of a legal professional who refused preferential treatment for former officials as the fourth general election talent, the party plans to announce three additional talents next week. Meanwhile, the Liberty Korea Party has yet to set any schedule for announcing new talent recruitment for the general election.

On the 5th, the Democratic Party announced that it had recruited So Byeong-cheol, Chair Professor at Soonchunhyang University (former Chief Prosecutor of Daegu High Prosecutors' Office), as a talent for the April 15 general election. The party explained the reason for recruitment, stating, "After retiring from the prosecution in 2013, So refused all offers from major law firms and did not open a law practice to break the custom of preferential treatment for former officials, causing a fresh stir in the legal community," adding, "He is the first high-ranking prosecution official to refuse preferential treatment for former officials."

So, who passed the judicial examination in 1983, served as ▲ Prosecutor at Seoul District Prosecutors' Office (1986) ▲ Prosecutor at Supreme Prosecutors' Office (2007) ▲ Chief Prosecutor of Daegu High Prosecutors' Office (2011) ▲ Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute (2013), and has been serving as an unpaid Chair Professor of Law at Soonchunhyang University since 2014. During his tenure as a prosecutor, he eradicated the organized crime group 'Dongapa' and handled the 'Suseo Corruption Case' during the Sixth Republic. He also participated in establishing the prosecution reform plan 'Promise to Open Hope - Change Strategy Plan' initiated by the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

At the party admission ceremony, So said, "I will devote all my accumulated experience and capabilities to complete the prosecution reform of the Moon Jae-in government." He added, "As long as righteous prosecutors who do not pursue power but practice justice protect the field, prosecution reform will surely succeed," and said, "As a senior, I will protect their sense of mission and open hope that they can work as proud prosecutors."

Following the recruitment of So, the Democratic Party plans to announce about ten talents for the general election by the Lunar New Year, including three additional talents next week. On the 4th, Democratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan appeared on the YouTube broadcast 'Yoo Si-min's Alileo' and said, "The most important thing is alignment with the party's policy line, followed by how sincerely they have lived their lives and how they inspire others." He also said, "We are recruiting mainly those who have achieved results in various fields such as economy, security, and culture," and "We plan to announce about ten more recruits in the future."

Meanwhile, the Liberty Korea Party has seen a halt in new talent recruitment since former Army General Park Chan-joo's recruitment was canceled due to the 'military service abuse controversy.' In response, on the 30th of last month at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly, Liberty Korea Party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn said, "Recently, there have been concerns about our party's recruitment stopping while watching the Democratic Party's talent recruitment. However, the first party to start talent recruitment this year was the Liberty Korea Party." He also emphasized, "Our target timeline is not 2019 but 2020."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.