Southern District Prosecutor Chief Shim Jae-cheol and Prosecutor Bureau Chief Lee Jung-soo... District Prosecutor Lee Sung-yoon Retained (Update)

(From left) Shim Jae-cheol, Director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice; Lee Jung-soo, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office; Jo Jong-tae, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office. / Yonhap News and Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office website

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Park Beom-gye, the newly appointed Minister of Justice, carried out his first personnel reshuffle of senior prosecutors on the 7th since taking office.

Contrary to initial expectations, the reshuffle was limited to the transfer of four prosecutors at the level of senior prosecutors in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, including filling the currently vacant position of Director of Planning and Coordination at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Lee Seong-yoon, the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (23rd Judicial Research and Training Institute class), who attracted the most attention, was retained.

The reason Park Minister's first personnel reshuffle was so limited appears to be due to the consideration that Prosecutor General Yoon's term is nearing its end. By moving many other chief prosecutors while retaining only Lee Seong-yoon or avoiding replacing investigation heads such as Lee Du-bong, Chief Prosecutor of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office (25th class), who is leading the investigation related to the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant' case and is affiliated with the government or ruling party, Park seems to be avoiding potential criticism and is likely setting the stage for a large-scale reshuffle after Prosecutor General Yoon's retirement.

The Ministry of Justice announced the transfer of four senior prosecutors at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office level effective on the 9th.

First, Lee Jeong-su, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (26th class), was transferred to the key position of Director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice, which oversees personnel and budget matters of the prosecution, while Shim Jae-cheol, Director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice (27th class), was transferred to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, effectively swapping their positions.

Jo Jong-tae, Chief Prosecutor of the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office (25th class), was transferred to the vacant position of Director of Planning and Coordination at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Kim Ji-yong, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office (28th class), was transferred to the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office.

Aside from these, all frontline high prosecutors and chief prosecutors, including Lee Seong-yoon, were retained. Lee Yong-gu, Deputy Minister of Justice, who is under investigation by the prosecution for allegations of assaulting a taxi driver, was also retained. Previously, the Ministry of Justice had conducted a personnel reshuffle of senior prosecutors at the level of high prosecutors and chief prosecutors in August last year.

Han Dong-hoon, Chief Prosecutor (27th class), who was demoted to the Judicial Research and Training Institute due to his involvement in the 'Channel A coercion attempt' case, was not reinstated to a frontline prosecution office.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "Following the inauguration of the new Minister of Justice, we conducted some transfers of senior prosecutors at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office level to resolve the vacancy in the Director of Planning and Coordination position and to stabilize the prosecution organization while steadily advancing prosecution reform tasks. Considering that personnel reshuffles at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office level have been conducted three times in six-month intervals over the past year and a half, we maintained the previous personnel policy, minimizing transfers except for filling vacancies and without any promotions at the chief prosecutor level."

It added, "Most chief prosecutors, including the Chief Prosecutors of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, who are leading major ongoing cases, were retained to ensure the smooth implementation of newly introduced systems and continuity of work."

Despite Prosecutor General Yoon's request for replacements, the retention of Chief Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon means that the checks on Prosecutor General Yoon will continue, likely limiting Yoon's room for maneuver.

Chief Prosecutor Lee will continue investigations into allegations involving Chief Prosecutor Han in the Channel A case, the Ulsan mayoral election interference allegations, and suspicions involving Prosecutor General Yoon's family.

Chief Prosecutor Lee Du-bong of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office will also continue to lead the investigation into the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant economic feasibility evaluation manipulation' case.

Minister Park met with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol twice, on the 2nd and 5th, at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office to hear Yoon's opinions on personnel matters at the chief prosecutor level and above.

Unlike the first meeting on the 2nd, the second meeting on the 5th was a private discussion between Minister Park and Prosecutor General Yoon without any attendants. The Ministry of Justice reported that after hearing Yoon's opinions based on a written document prepared by Yoon, Minister Park verbally explained the direction, scope, and key personnel matters of the reshuffle to Yoon.

At that time, Prosecutor General Yoon requested Minister Park to replace Chief Prosecutor Lee and some senior prosecutors at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, but Minister Park reportedly expressed his intention to retain Chief Prosecutor Lee.

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