Outline of Tomorrow's Invitation for Chief of Public Corruption Investigation Office Candidate Revealed... 3-4 Candidates to Be Announced Through Bar Association Morning Meeting

At the appointment ceremony for the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HCIA) chief candidate recommendation committee held in the National Assembly reception room on the 30th of last month, Professor Kim Jong-cheol of Yonsei University Law School (from the left), Lee Chan-hee, President of the Korean Bar Association, Cho Jae-yeon, Director of the Court Administration Office, Park Byeong-seok, Speaker of the National Assembly, Choo Mi-ae, Minister of Justice, lawyers Lim Jeong-hyeok, Park Gyeong-jun, and Lee Heon posed for a photo. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The outline of the first candidate for the head of the newly established Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), who will lead the office for three years, is expected to be revealed soon.

According to the legal community on the 8th, the CIO Chief Candidate Recommendation Committee will complete the first round of candidate recommendations on the 9th and hold a second meeting on the 13th to review the candidates.

At the first meeting held at the National Assembly on the 30th of last month, the Recommendation Committee confirmed this schedule and decided that each of the seven members would recommend up to five candidates for the CIO chief by the 9th.

Article 6 of the Act on the Establishment and Operation of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO Act) stipulates that the National Assembly shall establish a CIO Chief Candidate Recommendation Committee to recommend candidates for the CIO chief.

The committee members are appointed or commissioned by the Speaker of the National Assembly, with three ex officio members: the Minister of Justice, the Chief of the Court Administration, and the President of the Korean Bar Association.

The remaining members are appointed by the Speaker of the National Assembly from among “two members recommended by the negotiation group of the party to which the President belongs or belonged” and “two members recommended by other negotiation groups.”

The chairperson of the Candidate Recommendation Committee is elected by the members themselves.

According to these legal provisions, the current CIO Chief Candidate Recommendation Committee is chaired by Cho Jae-yeon, Chief of the Court Administration, with Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Korean Bar Association President Lee Chan-hee participating as ex officio members.

Additionally, the committee consists of seven members in total, including ruling party recommended members Professor Kim Jong-cheol and Attorney Park Kyung-jun, and opposition party negotiation group recommended members Attorney Lim Jeong-hyeok and Attorney Lee Heon.

The committee convenes at the request of the Speaker of the National Assembly, at the request of at least one-third of the members, or when the chairperson deems it necessary, and resolutions require the approval of at least six members.

Meanwhile, Article 5 of the CIO Act, which regulates the qualifications and appointment of the CIO chief, requires the candidate to have at least 15 years of experience in one of the following three positions: ▲judge, prosecutor, or attorney; ▲a person with attorney qualifications who has worked in legal affairs at a state agency, public institution, or local government; or ▲a person with attorney qualifications who has served as an assistant professor or higher in legal studies at a university. If the candidate has held two or more of these positions, the combined period must total at least 15 years.

After the Candidate Recommendation Committee recommends two candidates who meet these qualifications, the President nominates one of them, who is then appointed after a confirmation hearing.

The term of the CIO chief is three years, with a mandatory retirement age of 65, and reappointment is prohibited, allowing only a single term.

If each of the seven recommendation committee members recommends five candidates, the number of candidates could increase to a maximum of 35; however, it is known that many of the previously considered strong candidates have declined for various reasons, so the actual number of recommended candidates is expected to be much smaller.

Furthermore, according to the CIO Act, at least six of the seven recommendation committee members must agree for a candidate to be finalized, meaning the final candidate must meet the stringent conditions of being trusted by the ruling party and not opposed by the opposition party.

Meanwhile, the Korean Bar Association, which has acknowledged that Senior Researcher Kim Jin-wook of the Constitutional Court is expected to be recommended as a CIO chief candidate, plans to publicly announce the final 3 to 4 candidates recommended by the Bar Association at a meeting hosted by President Lee Chan-hee at 10:45 a.m. on the 9th.

At this meeting, the Bar Association also plans to provide detailed explanations about the list of recommended candidates and the reasons behind their recommendations.

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