Today's Prosecutor Mid-Level Personnel Changes... What Is the Fate of the Cheongwadae Investigation Team?

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Ministry of Justice will carry out personnel changes for mid-level executives and ordinary prosecutors on the 23rd. This is the second personnel reshuffle since Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae took office. On the 8th, personnel changes for senior prosecutors were made. Attention is focused on whether the prosecution investigation teams currently targeting the Blue House and others will undergo significant changes.

The prosecution personnel changes announced by the Ministry of Justice on this day will take effect from the 3rd of next month. Earlier, on the 21st, the Cabinet approved the prosecution organization reform plan, which established the necessary conditions for personnel changes. According to regulations, if there are changes in the organizational structure within the prosecution, prosecutors can be transferred regardless of their current assignment period. The reform plan includes the abolition of 13 direct investigation departments within local prosecution offices.

The Prosecution Personnel Committee held on the 20th set the direction and criteria for the personnel changes. It is expected that the scale and scope of the personnel changes will be relatively minimized. It may be decided at around 300 people, about half the size of the personnel changes made in July last year. During the meeting, Deputy Prosecutor General Koo Bon-seon of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office expressed the opinion that "considering ongoing investigations, it would be better to minimize the scale of personnel changes," which other committee members reportedly agreed with.

In addition, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl conveyed to the Ministry of Justice the opinion that "mid-level executives within the Supreme Prosecutors' Office should be retained." This judgment was made to maintain continuity of ongoing investigations and to sustain prosecutions in major trials. Depending on how much this opinion is reflected in the personnel changes, the content of the prosecution personnel reshuffle could vary significantly.

While the prevailing analysis suggests that there will be large-scale personnel changes, including for teams still conducting investigations targeting the Blue House, there are also expectations that the scale will be adjusted considering criticism from opposition parties.

This scenario involves replacement of some mid-level managers at the section chief level within the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and deputy chief prosecutors of investigation teams, while minimizing changes to personnel below the chief prosecutor level within investigation teams. The Ministry of Justice's decision to postpone the promotion of chief prosecutors from Judicial Research and Training Institute class 34, who are responsible for major investigations, and the promotion of deputy chief prosecutors from class 35 to the next personnel reshuffle supports this analysis.

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