Prosecution Office Prosecutor Appointment Begins in Earnest... Final Variable is Opposition Party Personnel Committee Recommendation

Document screening for prosecutor applicants begins... Internal rules for investigative practice may be established as early as this month

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HCIA) is set to begin its full-scale personnel selection process. The document screening and interview process for selecting prosecutors is scheduled to start this week, and the Personnel Committee, which will select the final candidates, is expected to be formed as early as this week. However, since there are about 230 applicants and the opposition party's recommendation of committee members may be delayed, the selection and commencement of investigation of the first case could be postponed until after April.

According to the legal community on the 15th, the HCIA plans to complete the appointment of external personnel allocated to the director's quota as soon as it receives the Personnel Committee member recommendations requested from the National Assembly by the 16th deadline.

The Personnel Committee consists of seven members: ▲the director ▲the deputy director ▲one person appointed by the director ▲two members recommended by the ruling party ▲and two members recommended by the opposition party. They will review those who have passed the document screening and interview stages.

The document screening for the 233 applicants who applied by the deadline on the 4th will begin this week independently of the Personnel Committee's formation. Applicants who pass the document screening will proceed to interviews and then be referred to the Personnel Committee. In the interview stage, unless there are disqualifying reasons, no candidates are expected to be eliminated. Inside the HCIA, considering concerns about infringing on the Personnel Committee's authority, there is a plan to rank all candidates and forward them all to the committee.

The variable is the opposition party's cooperation in forming the Personnel Committee. According to the HCIA Act, decisions by the Personnel Committee require the approval of a majority of the sitting members. Although decisions can be made with the three members recommended by the HCIA and two from the ruling party, opposition party members are needed to form the committee. The Democratic Party recommended lawyers Na Giju and Oh Youngjung as members on the 10th, but it is widely expected that the People Power Party will miss the 16th deadline.

Even if the opposition party makes recommendations, there could be significant time required to select candidates due to differing evaluations of HCIA prosecutors between the ruling and opposition parties. Political conflicts during the Personnel Committee's discussions are a representative issue. Earlier, Director Kim Jinwook stated regarding this matter, "If disagreements arise within the Personnel Committee, I will try to persuade as much as possible."

However, the establishment of rules necessary for investigative work is planned to be completed within this month. Similar to the Prosecutors' Case Handling Rules, detailed provisions necessary for the HCIA's case acceptance, investigation, and decisions are being developed through internal and external consultations. A legal community official said, "The preparation process, including document and interview screening for prosecutor selection, Personnel Committee discussions, and internal regulation establishment, may take an additional two to three months," adding, "Considering that more than 100 cases have already been filed with the HCIA, the selection and commencement of investigation of the first case may be delayed beyond the scheduled April."

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