Central District Prosecutors' Office 1st Deputy Chief Kim Wook-jun and 4th Deputy Chief Hyeong Jin-hwi... 630 Deputies, Chiefs, and Prosecutors Personnel Changes

‘Geom-eon Yuchak’ Investigation Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-ung Promoted to Deputy Chief Prosecutor at Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office

Seoul Seocho-gu Supreme Prosecutors' Office building. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 27th, the Ministry of Justice carried out personnel changes for 630 prosecutors, including deputy chiefs, chief prosecutors, and ordinary prosecutors.

Following the personnel changes in January, in this round as well, prosecutors with a pro-government stance, such as Jeong Jin-ung, head of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office who is investigating the ‘media collusion’ allegations, were promoted to deputy chief prosecutors. Meanwhile, special prosecutors classified as part of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol’s faction were mostly relegated to less significant positions, sparking controversy over ‘code personnel appointments.’

That afternoon, the Ministry of Justice announced personnel changes for 630 prosecutors, including 585 prosecutors at the senior prosecutor level and 45 ordinary prosecutors, effective from the 3rd of next month.

This personnel reshuffle reflected the recently revised ‘Regulations on the Organization of the Prosecutor’s Office,’ which restructured the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and frontline prosecutors’ offices.

With the organizational reform, the position of Investigation Information Policy Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office was abolished, and the current Investigation Information Policy Officer, Son Jun-sung, was appointed as the Investigation Information Officer.

Lee Jeong-bong, head of the Criminal Division 2 at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, was appointed as the newly established Human Rights Policy Officer, and Park Ki-dong, a researcher at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office who was responsible for the Corruption Investigation Office-related tasks at the Prosecutorial Reform Promotion Team, was appointed as the Criminal Policy Officer.

Kwon Soon-jung, the spokesperson who has been the ‘voice’ of Prosecutor General Yoon, moved to the position of deputy chief prosecutor at the Jeonju District Prosecutors’ Office. Considering that most former Supreme Prosecutors’ Office spokespersons have moved to key positions such as deputy chief prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, this is seen as a demotion.

Lee Chang-soo, head of the Criminal Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office who worked closely with Chief Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon, was appointed as the new spokesperson for the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.

At the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, the anti-corruption investigation divisions and other direct investigation departments under the former 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor were all moved under the 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor. Therefore, the most anticipated appointment for the 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Central District Prosecutors’ Office was Hyeong Jin-hwi, a prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office (48 years old, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 29), who has been dispatched to the Government Coordination Office’s Corruption Prevention Monitoring Team since August last year.

Kim Wook-joon, the current 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor who is known to have strong trust from Lee Seong-yoon, the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, moved to the position of 1st Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

Kim Hyung-geun, head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 and another candidate for the 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Central District Prosecutors’ Office, was promoted and transferred to deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office.

Choi Seong-pil, deputy chief prosecutor at the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors’ Office, was appointed as the 2nd Deputy Chief Prosecutor, and Koo Ja-hyun, spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, was appointed as the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor.

Meanwhile, Jeong Jin-ung, the chief prosecutor under investigation for ‘abuse of authority’ related to Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon during the investigation of the ‘media collusion’ case, was promoted to deputy chief prosecutor at the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office.

Chief prosecutors who investigated the illegal succession of Samsung’s management rights and the Blue House’s interference in the Ulsan mayoral election were all assigned as heads of criminal divisions at local prosecutors’ offices.

Lee Bok-hyun, head of the Economic Crime Criminal Division who investigated the illegal succession of Samsung’s management rights, was transferred to head of the Criminal Division 3 at the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office, and Kim Tae-eun, head of the Public Investigation Division 2 who investigated the Blue House’s interference in the Ulsan mayoral election, was transferred to head of the Criminal Division 1 at the Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office.

Jo Sang-won, head of the Criminal Division 6 at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office who investigated the Lime Asset Management scandal, was appointed as head of the Criminal Division 12 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, and Yang In-cheol, head of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office who handled the case of Minister Choo Mi-ae’s son’s failure to return from leave, was appointed as the Human Rights Supervisor at the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office.

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