The Democratic Party Accelerates the Launch of the Corruption Investigation Office... Kim Jin-wook and Jeon Hyun-jung Likely Candidates

Cho Jae-yeon, chairman of the recommendation committee for the candidate for the head of the Corruption Investigation Office, is presiding over the meeting of the candidate recommendation committee held at the National Assembly on the 25th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Attention is focused on who will be chosen as the final candidate for the inaugural Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (Gong-su-cheo) as the amendment to the Gong-su-cheo Act, which removed the opposition party's veto power, passed the National Assembly plenary session.

According to political circles on the 11th, the Gong-su-cheo Chief Recommendation Committee will be reactivated early next week to begin the candidate recommendation process. Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said at the Supreme Council meeting that day, "I request the Speaker of the National Assembly to promptly convene the Gong-su-cheo Chief Recommendation Committee."

Currently, the leading candidates are Kim Jin-wook, senior researcher at the Constitutional Court, and lawyer Jeon Hyun-jung. They were recommended by the Korean Bar Association and Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, respectively, and received five votes in favor at the Gong-su-cheo Chief Recommendation Committee meeting held last month. Applying the newly passed law, they meet the requirements as final candidates.

Judge-turned-researcher Kim graduated from Boseong High School and Seoul National University with a degree in Archaeology, earned a master's degree from Seoul National University Graduate School of Law, and completed an LLM at Harvard Law School in the United States. After passing the bar exam in 1989, he served as a military legal officer in the Air Force and worked as a judge at the Northern Branch of the Seoul District Court and the Seoul District Court. Later, he worked as a lawyer at Kim & Chang law firm and was dispatched to the special prosecutor's office for the 'Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation strike inducement case' in 1999. Since his appointment as a constitutional researcher at the Constitutional Court in 2010, he has served as secretary to the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court and currently holds concurrent positions as senior constitutional researcher and international deliberation officer.

Lawyer Jeon is the only female candidate recommended by the Gong-su-cheo Chief Recommendation Committee members. She graduated from Seong-eun Girls' High School in Jeonju, Seoul National University Department of Law, and Seoul National University Graduate School of Law. She was appointed as a judge at the Suwon District Court Seongnam Branch and served at the Seoul Family Court, Daejeon District Court, and Jeonju District Court. She also served as a member of the Fair Trade Commission's Standard Review Advisory Committee in 2011 and as a policy advisor to the Ministry of National Defense in 2016. In February 2016, while serving as a presiding judge at the Seoul Central District Court, she resigned and left the judiciary, and since March 2017, she has been working as a lawyer at the law firm KCL.

Of course, there is a possibility that the recommendation committee may suggest new candidates. However, since the ruling party aims to launch the Gong-su-cheo within this year, it is highly likely that a candidate will be selected from the existing nominees.

The biggest variable for the Gong-su-cheo's launch within the year is the confirmation hearing. President Moon is expected to immediately nominate one of the two candidates recommended by the committee and submit the nomination request to the National Assembly. If any serious flaws are discovered during the opposition party's rigorous scrutiny in the hearing, public opinion could worsen.

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