Park Beom-gye: "Personnel appointments will consider both prosecution reform and organizational stability"... Second meeting possibly as early as today

Met with Prosecutor General Yoon on the 2nd to Discuss Senior Prosecutor Personnel
Avoided Direct Answer on Lee Seong-yoon's Reappointment as District Prosecutor
Steps Back on Transferring 'Kim Hak-eui Illegal Departure' Case to Corruption Investigation Office

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye (left) and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol met at the Ministry of Justice in the Gwacheon Government Complex, Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on the 1st to exchange congratulations and well-wishes. / Provided by the Ministry of Justice

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 4th, Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, expressed his intention to conduct personnel appointments considering two main factors: ‘prosecutorial reform’ and ‘organizational stability.’

Minister Park met with Prosecutor General Yoon at an external location on the 2nd to discuss the personnel appointments of senior prosecutors, and is expected to hold a second meeting as early as today to finalize the personnel plan and carry out appointments next week.

On the same day, Minister Park appeared on CBS Radio’s ‘Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show’ and said, “I officially met Prosecutor General Yoon on the 2nd and exchanged opinions regarding the personnel criteria,” adding, “The most important thing is the protection of human rights and due process at the investigation site, so naturally, the appointments should be for prosecutorial reform.”

He continued, “Another aspect is organizational stability, which seems to be strongly demanded within the prosecution, including by the Prosecutor General,” and added, “I do not think prosecutorial reform and organizational stability are contradictory, so I will consider these two major factors in the personnel decisions.”

On the same day, the Ministry of Justice announced that Minister Park plans to meet Prosecutor General Yoon once more this week. Minister Park said, “When I meet Prosecutor General Yoon again, I will come with a concrete plan.” It is known that the two are likely to meet again as early as today.

Regarding the possibility of replacing Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, and Shim Jae-cheol, Director of the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecutor’s Office, who are the main focus of this personnel appointment, Minister Park avoided giving a direct answer.

Prosecutor General Yoon is reported to have recommended to Minister Park the replacement of some senior staff at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, including Chief Lee, Lee Jong-geun, Head of the Criminal Division, and Shin Sung-sik, Head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division, who did not follow his directives in investigations such as the ‘Channel A case’ and the indictment of Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party.

He also reportedly requested that some of the command lines at the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, investigating the ‘Kim Hak-ui illegal deportation’ case, and the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office, investigating the ‘Wolseong Unit 1 nuclear power plant’ case, be retained, as well as the reinstatement of Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, who was demoted to a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute after being implicated in the ‘media-prosecution collusion’ case.

However, given that the prosecution is conducting sensitive investigations involving the Blue House and current government officials ahead of the election, there is a prevailing view that Minister Park’s ability to reflect Prosecutor General Yoon’s opinions positively in personnel appointments will inevitably be limited.

Meanwhile, in response to a question regarding the transfer of the ‘Kim Hak-ui illegal deportation’ case to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), Minister Park showed a step back from his previous stance expressed during the National Assembly confirmation hearing, saying, “Since the prosecution is investigating, I think the current conditions are another matter.”

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