[21st General Election] Who Cried and Who Laughed in the Legal Community... Rise of Judges vs Struggles of Prosecutors

Democratic Party candidates Lee Tan-hee and Lee Soo-jin, and United Future Party candidates Yoo Sang-beom and Kim Woong, elected in the April 15 general election (from left)

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] In the April 15 general election, reform-minded former judges were elected in large numbers, while former prosecutors struggled to win seats.

With the ruling party's landslide victory securing clear dominance in the upcoming National Assembly, the establishment of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit and follow-up work on prosecutorial reform are expected to accelerate, alongside the full-scale realization of judicial reform efforts.

◆ Lee Tan-hee, Lee Su-jin, and Choi Ki-sang, who led the investigation into judicial corruption, enter the National Assembly... Former Ulsan Mayor Kim Ki-hyun also elected

Reform-minded former judges who challenged traditional practices during their tenure on the bench and were targeted for recruitment by the Democratic Party have entered the National Assembly in large numbers.

First, former Chief Judge Lee Su-jin, who drew attention for her head-to-head contest with former judge and lawmaker Na Kyung-won, defeated Na in Seoul Dongjak-gu B district and was elected as a first-term lawmaker.

Former Chief Judge Lee, a member of the progressive judges' group ‘International Human Rights Law Research Association,’ publicly opposed the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae’s plan to establish a high court during her time as a judge.

Former Judge Lee Tan-hee (Gyeonggi Yongin-si Jeong district), who worked at the Court Administration Office and exposed documents such as the ‘Judiciary Blacklist’ and the ‘Plan to Dissolve the International Human Rights Law Research Association’ before resigning, is credited with triggering the prosecution’s investigation into judicial corruption.

Former Chief Judge Choi Ki-sang, elected in Seoul Geumcheon-gu, also publicized the judicial corruption under former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae. He is a former president of the progressive judges' group ‘Our Law Research Association’ and served as the inaugural chairperson of the National Judges’ Representative Meeting.

They are expected to raise their voices for judicial reform in the National Assembly.

Among former judges running as candidates for the United Future Party, former Ulsan Mayor Kim Ki-hyun, elected in Ulsan Nam-gu B district, stands out. In the 2018 re-election, Song Cheol-ho, a 30-year friend of President Moon Jae-in, was elected mayor, and a prosecution investigation into ‘commanded investigations’ and ‘election interference’ is ongoing.

◆ Hwang Kyo-ahn, Yoon Gap-geun, Lee Han-sung, Kim Jin-tae, Kyung Dae-soo, and Lee Yong-ju all defeated... Yoo Sang-beom, Kim Woong, and So Byung-chul elected

Former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who engaged in a high-profile battle with former Prime Minister and presidential candidate Lee Nak-yeon in Jongno, was disadvantaged as a latecomer and suffered a large defeat amid last-minute verbal controversies involving candidates from his own party.

Yoon Gap-geun, a special prosecutor who served as the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and head of the Anti-Corruption Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, ran in Cheongju, Chungbuk, the constituency of United Future Party lawmaker Jeong Woo-taek, but narrowly lost by a 3% vote margin to Jeong Jeong-soon, a former Chungbuk provincial deputy governor.

Lee Han-sung, a former prosecutor general who ran as an independent for a third term in Sangju-Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk, finished third. Kim Jin-tae, a United Future Party candidate seeking a third term in Chuncheon-Cheorwon-Hwacheon-Yanggu, Gangwon, and Lee Yong-ju, an independent seeking re-election in Yeosu-si Gap, Jeonnam, both finished second.

In Chungbuk Jeungpyeong-Jincheon-Eumseong, a contest between former prosecutors and police officers drew attention. Former prosecutor Kyung Dae-soo, running as a United Future Party candidate, was defeated by Democratic Party candidate Im Ho-seon, former deputy commissioner of the National Police Agency, failing in his bid for a third term.

Jo Bae-sook of the Minsheng Party, who has experience as both a prosecutor and judge, failed in her bid for a fifth term in Iksan-si B, Jeonbuk.

Among elected former prosecutors, Yoo Sang-beom, former chief prosecutor of Changwon District (Gangwon Hongcheon-Hwacheon-Yeongwol-Pyeongchang), stands out. He is the older brother of actor Yoo Oh-sung and rose through the ranks from 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to chief prosecutor. However, under the current administration, he was sidelined due to his role in leading the investigation into the ‘Jung Yoon-hoe Document Incident’ and subsequently resigned. He successfully secured the party nomination after a primary in this election.

Kim Woong, former chief prosecutor and author of the bestseller ‘Prosecutor’s Office,’ also won a seat. Former head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office’s Future Planning and Criminal Policy Division, he has represented the prosecution’s stance at the forefront of the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution. His intra-parliamentary contest with Hwang Un-ha, former chief of Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, who was elected in Daejeon Jung-gu, has drawn attention. Hwang is a symbolic figure who advocated for the need for investigative authority adjustment and prosecutorial reform while serving in the police.

Former high-ranking prosecutor So Byung-chul, who did not open a law practice after leaving the prosecution but served as a distinguished professor at Nonghyup University and Suncheon National University, ran as a Democratic Party candidate in Suncheon-si, Gwangyang-si, Gokseong-gun, and Gurye-gun Gap, Jeonnam, and was elected.

Choi Kang-wook, former secretary for public service discipline at the Blue House who passed the military legal officer appointment exam and worked at the Ministry of National Defense prosecution unit, successfully entered the National Assembly as a proportional representative lawmaker for the Open Democratic Party. Choi openly expressed dissatisfaction with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and ran on a platform of prosecutorial reform.

Attention is focused on how former police chief Hwang and former secretary Choi, who view the prosecution as either a deep-rooted problem or a target for reform, and former chief prosecutor Kim, who has criticized the direction of reform, will proceed in the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, incumbent United Future Party lawmakers with prosecutorial backgrounds performed better than expected.

Kim Do-eup, who declared he would not run but eventually ran in Busan Buk-gu Gangseo-gu B, and Kwon Seong-dong, who left the party after being excluded from the nomination and ran as an independent in Gangwon Gangneung, both succeeded in winning their fourth terms.

Former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Kwak Sang-do was re-elected in Daegu Jung-gu Nam-gu with more than twice the vote share of the Democratic Party candidate.

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