Kim Jin-wook and Yoon Seok-yeol Complete Meeting... Agree to Activate Working-Level Consultation Channel (Update)

Yoon Suk-yeol "Will Actively Cooperate for Smooth Operation of the Corruption Investigation Office"

Kim Jin-wook, Chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (left), and Yoon Seok-youl, Prosecutor General.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Kim Jin-wook, head of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (hereinafter referred to as the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, or CIO), met with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol on the 8th and agreed to activate a practical consultation channel between the CIO and the prosecution.

Prosecutor General Yoon reportedly expressed to Director Kim his intention to actively cooperate for the smooth operation of the CIO.

After meeting with Prosecutor General Yoon for about an hour and a half from 4 p.m. at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, Director Kim told reporters, "We had a fundamental discussion to cooperate well regarding the provisions on case transfers," adding, "The atmosphere of the meeting was good, but we did not have a detailed conversation about the criteria for case transfers."

He said, "Personnel appointments at the CIO are expected to be completed by the end of March or early April, so we did not discuss specific criteria for case transfers," and added, "There were no specific instructions from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office either."

He continued, "Overall, we exchanged many fundamental remarks about cooperating well to efficiently utilize the country's anti-corruption investigative capabilities," and added, "We did not set the date for the next meeting, but agreed to operate a practical channel for cooperation."

When asked by reporters about what remarks Prosecutor General Yoon made during the meeting, he said, "He mentioned that with the launch of the CIO, it has full investigative and prosecutorial authority over judges, prosecutors, and high-ranking police officers," and "He said we should mutually cooperate to ensure there are no gaps in the parts where the CIO only has investigative authority and must hand over cases to the prosecution."

Regarding the meeting lasting longer than expected, he said, "We had many academic and legal discussions about the prosecution system."

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced immediately after the meeting that "Prosecutor General Yoon met with Director Kim, who visited the Supreme Prosecutors' Office from 4 p.m. for an hour and a half, to discuss mutual cooperation measures," and "At the meeting, the Prosecutor General congratulated the CIO director on his inauguration and agreed to actively cooperate for the smooth operation of the CIO."

They added, "Specific cooperation measures will be discussed later depending on the completion of the CIO’s organizational setup and investigation preparations."

Prosecutor General Yoon reportedly explained to Director Kim his experience as the head of the investigation team in the special prosecutor team for the 2016 Park Geun-hye presidential scandal case.

At the meeting, Park Myung-gyun, Policy Planning Officer from the CIO, and from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Deputy Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan, Criminal Policy Officer Park Ki-dong, and Policy Planning Director Jeon Mu-gon were present.

Meanwhile, as Director Kim entered the Supreme Prosecutors' Office building to meet Prosecutor General Yoon, he explained the meaning of his remark about "a fair competition with the prosecution" in response to reporters' questions, saying, "It means competing fairly with the prosecution to protect the basic rights of the people and conduct human rights-friendly investigations."

Regarding his earlier statement on the way to work that "the CIO’s first case investigation could be conducted confidentially," he clarified, "It means that depending on the case, it can be either public or confidential," and added, "It was not a statement made with significant intent."

He also said about the meeting with Prosecutor General Yoon, "This is not a one-time meeting; we plan to communicate through multiple channels."

Kim Jin-wook, who took office on the 21st of last month, met sequentially on the 26th with National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok, Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon, and People Power Party floor leader Joo Ho-young.

He also paid courtesy visits to Lee Chan-hee, president of the Korean Bar Association, on the 27th, and Kim Myung-soo, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, on the 29th. It is also known that Director Kim is coordinating a meeting schedule with Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye.

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