Ongoing 'Chuseong'... Prosecutor Mid-Level Personnel Changes and Samsung Investigation Ripple Effects Continue

The Ministry of Justice will begin an internal recruitment process as early as this week for key positions at the level of chief prosecutors within the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The personnel storm led by Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae continues. Following last week's personnel reshuffle of high-ranking prosecutors at the chief prosecutor level, this time the focus is on mid-level executives such as deputy prosecutors and chief prosecutors. Inside and outside the prosecution, it is expected that the mid-level personnel reshuffle will also focus on 'isolating Yoon Seok-yeol.' Moreover, with discussions underway to reorganize the system to reduce the authority of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, President Yoon is expected to become even more isolated.

According to the legal community on the 10th, the Ministry of Justice will launch an internal recruitment for key positions at the chief prosecutor level within the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office as early as this week. Considering that in the past, personnel changes were made about a week after the internal recruitment and procedures were completed following high-ranking personnel reshuffles, this personnel reshuffle is expected to take place after the Liberation Day holiday.

The biggest point of interest is whether mid-level executives who have supported President Yoon will be moved. Minister Choo is highly likely to carry out demotions for mid-level executives after having completely replaced her aides through two previous high-ranking personnel reshuffles.

In this case, President Yoon will effectively lose all his aides. Through the high-ranking personnel reshuffles in January and last week, prominent members of the 'Yoon Seok-yeol faction' such as Yoon Dae-jin, Deputy Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute (25th class), Lee Doo-bong, Chief Prosecutor of Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office (25th class), Park Chan-ho, Chief Prosecutor of Jeju District Prosecutors' Office (26th class), and Han Dong-hoon, Research Fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute (27th class), were all demoted.

In the January mid-level personnel reshuffle, the entire leadership investigating the current administration's misconduct was replaced. President Yoon's request to retain mid-level executives in the investigation team was ignored, and the investigation team into the administration's misconduct was effectively dismantled.

Inside and outside the prosecution, it is expected that mid-level executives from President Yoon's faction who survived the early-year reshuffle without completing a 'one-year term' will be the main targets of this personnel reshuffle. This includes executives in the investigation teams for the Ulsan mayoral election interference allegations and the Samsung Biologics investigation team.

The new occupants of the first and third deputy chief prosecutor positions at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who closely assist Lee Sung-yoon (23rd class), are also of interest. These positions are responsible for the dedicated teams handling the 'media collusion allegations' case and the Samsung illegal succession of management rights allegations, respectively.

In particular, regarding the investigation into the illegal succession of Samsung's management rights, Shin Sung-sik (27th class), the third deputy chief prosecutor, was promoted to head of the Anti-Corruption and Serious Crimes Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office as of the 11th, creating a gap in investigation leadership.

According to internal regulations, in the event of the deputy chief prosecutor's absence, the second and fourth deputy chief prosecutors sequentially act as the case handlers. However, since the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee has already recommended non-prosecution and the decision on indictment has been under discussion for nearly 50 days, the legal community believes that 'acting handling' itself will not be easy. However, in the case of the Economic Crime Criminal Division under the third deputy chief prosecutor, since Chief Prosecutor Lee Bok-hyun has been in office for over a year, there is a possibility that Chief Prosecutor Lee will directly lead the case before the mid-level personnel reshuffle.

The ongoing organizational restructuring is also a variable. It is known that a reorganization is being discussed, centered on the Ministry of Justice's Prosecution Bureau, adjusting some positions such as the Investigation Information Policy Officer and Public Investigation Policy Officer directly under the Prosecutor General, and the Senior Planning Officer of the Anti-Corruption and Serious Crimes Division. Due to the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution aimed at reducing direct prosecution by the prosecution, the manpower at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is inevitably expected to decrease, which is likely to affect personnel decisions as well.

A legal community official said, "Since reorganizing the organization after conducting mid-level personnel reshuffles would require revising personnel again, a plan to handle these in conjunction is being discussed," adding, "However, since investigations into major cases are ongoing, both the timing of the organizational restructuring and personnel reshuffles may take some time."

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