Prosecutor Personnel Committee Concludes... Sharp Tensions Over 'Prosecutors-Ministry of Justice' Opinion Hearing

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The highly anticipated personnel plan for senior prosecutors is nearing its final discussion and is about to be officially announced. It is expected to be announced as early as late this afternoon or by the 9th at the latest.

The Ministry of Justice's Prosecutor Personnel Committee held a meeting at 11 a.m. on the 8th at the Government Complex Gwacheon to discuss the promotion and transfer personnel plan for senior prosecutors submitted by Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae. The committee, chaired by lawyer Lee Chang-jae, a former Deputy Minister of Justice, consists of a total of 11 members including three prosecutors, two judges, two lawyers, two law professors, and two external members. All members attended the meeting.

The details of the committee's discussion are not disclosed. However, since the committee's role is to verify any disqualifications of candidates in Minister Choo's personnel plan and to decide the overall direction of the personnel changes, it is expected that there were no significant conflicts of opinion. Based on the committee's results, Minister Choo will submit the personnel plan to the President, and once the President approves it, the personnel changes will be implemented.

Typically, when the committee meets, the personnel results are announced the same afternoon or at the latest the next day. However, in this case, since the procedure to hear Prosecutor General Yoon's opinion has not yet been completed, the announcement timing may vary.

Lee Chang-jae, Chairman of the Prosecution Personnel Committee, is entering the Ministry of Justice at the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gyeonggi on the 8th while responding to questions from the press. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The Ministry of Justice is reportedly conducting the procedure to hear Prosecutor General Yoon's opinion on the personnel matter simultaneously with the committee meeting. The Ministry requested the Supreme Prosecutors' Office for Prosecutor General Yoon's opinion on the personnel plan this morning. However, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office responded that they could not provide an opinion without receiving the personnel list and asked the Ministry of Justice to present the personnel plan and request opinions again.

Originally, the Ministry of Justice planned to send Prosecutor Jin Jae-seon to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office this morning to deliver the personnel list to Prosecutor General Yoon, but they changed the plan and reportedly only sent a work communication requesting opinions on the personnel plan by 4 p.m. today. According to the Prosecutors' Office Act, the Minister of Justice must hear the Prosecutor General's opinion when making prosecutor personnel decisions and propose prosecutor assignments accordingly. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice had previously stated that opinion hearings related to prosecutor personnel would be conducted separately from meetings.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice is reportedly planning to fill eight vacant positions at the level of chief prosecutors or higher in this personnel reshuffle. If promotions to new chief prosecutors and high prosecutors follow, a chain movement of chief prosecutors nationwide will be inevitable. The personnel committee was initially scheduled to meet on the 6th but was postponed once due to the members' schedules. Then, with the meeting between Minister Choo and Prosecutor General Yoon scheduled for the afternoon of the 7th, the committee convening was reconfirmed.

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