Deputy Minister Gogi-young's Successor, Prosecutor Lee Su-kwon, Appointed Acting Chief of Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office

Lee Su-kwon, Head of the Human Rights Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. / Yonhap

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Lee Soo-kwon, Head of the Human Rights Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (age 52, 26th class, Chief Prosecutor), has been appointed as the acting Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, filling the vacancy created by the appointment of Ko Ki-young as Deputy Minister of Justice (age 55, 23rd Judicial Research and Training Institute class).

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced on the 27th that Lee would be appointed as the acting Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office effective the 28th.

Born in Seoul, Lee graduated from Yeongdong High School and Seoul National University Law School. He passed the 36th Judicial Examination in 1994 and completed the 26th Judicial Research and Training Institute.

Lee began his career as a prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office in 1998. Since then, he has served as a prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, a researcher at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, head of the Criminal Division 6 at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, Public Security Planning Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, and head of the Eastern Branch of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office. He was promoted to Chief Prosecutor in January of this year.

He also has experience working as an administrative officer in the Legal Affairs Secretary Office at the Blue House from April 2007 to February 2008 during President Roh Moo-hyun's administration.

The vacant position of Head of the Human Rights Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office will be concurrently filled in an acting capacity by Noh Jeong-hwan, Head of the Trial and Litigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (age 53, 26th class, Chief Prosecutor).

With the replacement of the Deputy Minister of Justice on this day, the number of vacancies among senior officials at the level of Chief Prosecutor or higher in the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution has increased to five. During the personnel reshuffle in January, the Ministry of Justice left the Deputy Chief Prosecutor positions at the Daejeon, Daegu, and Gwangju High Prosecutors' Offices vacant, citing the need to review the reorganization of the high prosecutors' offices and the abolition of the Chief Prosecutor rank.

Therefore, those around the prosecution expect that a personnel reshuffle, including appointments at the Chief Prosecutor level, will be carried out before the launch of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (Public Official Corruption Investigation Office) scheduled for mid-July.

It is common for acting appointments to be made in prosecution personnel reshuffles to fill vacant positions. Lee may be appointed as the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office in the upcoming Chief Prosecutor-level personnel reshuffle or may be transferred to another position.

In the past, Baek Seong-beom, Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute (age 58, 23rd class, Senior Prosecutor), was appointed as the acting Chief Prosecutor of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office in November 2017 after serving as head of the Violent Crimes Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and then transferred to the position of Chief Prosecutor of the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office in the personnel reshuffle in January the following year.

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