Shin Hyun-soo's 'Resignation Declaration' Fallout... Delay in Prosecutor Mid-Level Personnel Appointments and Setbacks in Regime Investigations

(From left) Shin Hyun-soo, Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs at the Blue House; Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice; Yoon Seok-yeol, Prosecutor General.

[Asia Economy Reporters Seokjin Choi and Kyunghwan Bae] The aftermath of the prosecution personnel reshuffle by Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye is intensifying.

Shin Hyun-soo, Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House, who expressed his intention to resign after being 'passed over' without fulfilling his role during the personnel process, is reported to have repeatedly offered his resignation despite President Moon Jae-in's refusal.

Shin, the first prosecution-origin Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs under the Moon Jae-in administration, was expected to act as a mediator between the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, where conflicts have deepened. If he steps down as is, the communication channel between Minister Park and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl will disappear, making it even more difficult to resolve their strained relationship.

Delay Expected in Mid-Level Prosecutor Personnel

The conflict between Senior Secretary Shin and Minister Park surfaced over the high-level prosecutor personnel reshuffle, which involved only four transfers, and noise is expected in the upcoming mid-level personnel reshuffle. The personnel changes initially scheduled as early as this week seem to be delayed.

According to the legal community on the 18th, the Ministry of Justice is coordinating the schedule for convening the Prosecutor Personnel Committee.

Mid-level personnel changes were originally expected this week, but due to friction between Senior Secretary Shin and Minister Park and Shin's resignation offer, the process was naturally postponed. A Ministry of Justice official conveyed the internal atmosphere, saying, "At this point, it is difficult to proceed with personnel changes immediately."

With Lee Sung-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, retained, many expected that prosecutors trusted by him would be appointed to key positions such as the first to fourth deputy chiefs of the Central District Prosecutors' Office and the head of the Criminal Division 1. However, due to the current situation, the scope of personnel changes is likely to be reduced.

Request for Arrest Warrant of Baek Woon-gyu Sparks Trouble... Disruptions in Major Investigations Inevitable

Inside and outside the prosecution, the dominant analysis is that the personnel reshuffle, which was abruptly carried out on the holiday of the 7th, was triggered by the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, investigating the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant' case, filing an arrest warrant for former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu three days before the personnel announcement.

Amid significant differences in opinions between Minister Park and Prosecutor General Yoon regarding personnel, Senior Secretary Shin was coordinating to allow some of Yoon's opinions, such as replacing the Supreme Prosecutors' Office staff, to be accepted. However, the filing of the warrant for former Minister Baek caused a sudden shift in the Blue House's stance.

In this personnel reshuffle, retaining Chief Prosecutor Lee and promoting former Ministry of Justice Prosecutor General Shim Jae-cheol to head of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office sends a clear signal from the Blue House and the Ministry of Justice.

Both individuals sided with former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae and were deeply involved in Prosecutor General Yoon's disciplinary request, which ended in failure, leading to a loss of trust among junior prosecutors in the Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Ministry of Justice, respectively.

Since the disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon failed, resulting in Minister Chu's dismissal and even an apology from the president, these individuals, who were considered possible targets for disciplinary personnel changes, were reaffirmed, clearly showing that their side will be supported to the end.

Prosecutors investigating cases involving the Blue House or current government officials, such as the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant' investigation team, the 'Kim Hak-eui illegal deportation,' and the 'Ulsan mayoral election interference,' are now in a position where they must continue their investigations despite potential personnel disadvantages.

Five Months Left in Prosecutor General Yoon's Term, Balance of Power Tilts to Minister

This personnel reshuffle has made conflict between Minister Park and Prosecutor General Yoon inevitable. However, since Prosecutor General Yoon has only five months left in his term, the prevailing view is that the balance of power within the prosecution will inevitably tilt toward Minister Park.

There is a possibility that Senior Secretary Shin may withdraw his resignation and continue to play a certain role between the two, but those familiar with Shin's style expect that, given his usual emphasis on principles, the likelihood of him retracting his resignation is low.

A former high-ranking prosecutor, Mr. A, said, "Typically, high-level prosecutor personnel changes have been made through consultations between the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General to narrow differences. However, for some key positions such as the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the Blue House's intentions are reflected, and in such cases, the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, who closely assists the president, plays a certain role."

He added, "Of course, there are cases where the president directly presents specific personnel plans to the minister, but in the current situation where the minister is a non-prosecution official and the Senior Secretary is from the prosecution, the Senior Secretary's opinions, who has a high understanding of the prosecution organization and knows the candidates well, should be relatively weighted. The failure to do so seems to have led to the resignation offer, so the possibility of withdrawal appears low."

Another former high-ranking prosecutor, Mr. B, said, "For personnel at the level of chief prosecutors, the Minister of Justice, Prosecutor General, and Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs sometimes meet to discuss. In such cases, the Senior Secretary conveys the VIP's (president's) intentions."

He continued, "The Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs is involved in chief prosecutor-level personnel, but the Civil Affairs Secretary does not usually intervene. If the media reports that Civil Affairs Secretary Lee Gwang-cheol bypassed Senior Secretary Shin and delivered Minister Park's personnel plan to the president for approval are true, it would be a difficult situation for Senior Secretary Shin to accept."

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