This Week's Prosecutor Mid-Level Executive Personnel Changes... Will Yoon Seok-yeol and Shin Hyun-soo's Opinions Be Reflected?

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office First Deputy Prosecutors Moon Seong-in, Kim Hyeong-geun, Kim Yang-su Considered
Interest in Whether Second to Fourth Deputy Prosecutors Will Be Retained
Attention on Possible Replacement of Investigation Teams for 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant' and 'Kim Hak-ui Travel Ban' Cases

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

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Amid controversy over the ‘passing over’ in the prosecution’s senior executive personnel appointments, Shin Hyun-soo, Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House, has tendered his resignation, and the delayed mid-level prosecution personnel appointments are expected to be carried out this week.

Justice Minister Park Beom-gye expressed deep regret over Shin’s resignation and stated that communication with both Shin and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol would be strengthened, drawing attention to how much their opinions will be reflected in this personnel decision.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Ministry of Justice is conducting the final steps to finalize the personnel plan by sending the mid-level prosecution personnel proposal prepared by the Prosecution Bureau to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office for review and feedback.

The Ministry of Justice will hold a Prosecution Personnel Committee meeting at 10 a.m. on the 22nd at the Government Complex Gwacheon to discuss mid-level prosecution personnel as well as promotions and transfers of ordinary prosecutors.

Traditionally, the Ministry of Justice has announced personnel results either on the day of or the day after the committee meeting. However, the status of Senior Secretary Shin, who returns from leave on the 22nd, remains a variable.

If over the weekend the Blue House or Minister Park succeeded in changing Shin’s mind, Shin would resume his role as mediator between Minister Park and Prosecutor General Yoon, but it is known that Shin’s intention to resign is strong, making this unlikely.

Previously, in the senior executive appointments, Minister Park was embroiled in controversy for ‘passing over’ Shin and Prosecutor General Yoon by retaining Lee Seong-yoon as Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and promoting Shim Jae-cheol, Director of the Prosecution Bureau at the Ministry of Justice, to Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office. Last week, Park expressed his intention to strengthen communication with the two.

He also stated that the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office working-level staff have been exchanging visits and engaging in dialogue to facilitate practical communication.

The most anticipated point in this mid-level personnel appointment is whether prosecutors trusted by Chief Prosecutor Lee will be assigned to the 1st to 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutors or key investigative departments within the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

Following the resignation of Kim Wook-joon, 1st Deputy Chief Prosecutor, who showed differences with Chief Prosecutor Lee during the disciplinary request against Prosecutor General Yoon, candidates for his successor include Moon Seong-in, 1st Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office from Wando, Jeonnam (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 28), Kim Hyung-geun, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office from Seoul (class 29), and Kim Yang-soo, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office from Iksan, Jeonbuk (class 29). All three are evaluated as having been well managed in their positions and possessing extensive experience in special investigations.

Deputy Chief Moon previously served as Head of the Financial Investigation Division 1 and Head of the Securities Crime Joint Investigation Team at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, as well as Head of the Human Rights and Advanced Crime Division at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office. Deputy Chief Kim Hyung-geun served as a researcher at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s Central Investigation Department, Head of the Special Investigation Division at the Busan and Incheon District Prosecutors’ Offices, Director of the Investigation Command at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, and Head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. Deputy Chief Kim Yang-soo also served as a researcher at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s Central Investigation Department, Head of the Investigation Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, and was the practical head of the investigation team for the Kangwon Land recruitment corruption case.

Regarding the ‘Channel A coercion attempt’ case, it is widely expected that Byun Pil-geon, Head of the Criminal Division 1, who opposed Chief Prosecutor Lee’s decision to dismiss charges against Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon, and Choi Seong-pil, 2nd Deputy Chief Prosecutor, who also gave a no-charge opinion, will be replaced.

In line with this, attention is also focused on whether Park Eun-jung, the Ministry of Justice’s Inspection Officer who acted as a bodyguard for former Minister Chu Mi-ae during the disciplinary and inspection request process against Prosecutor General Yoon last year, or Kim Tae-hoon, Director of the Prosecution Division at the Ministry of Justice, will be promoted, or whether Jeong Tae-won, Head of the Inspection Division 3 and Special Inspection Team Leader, and Im Seung-cheol, Head of Inspection Division 1, who voiced opposition, will be demoted. There is also speculation that Im Eun-jung, Policy Research Officer of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Inspection Department, will be promoted to Director of the Inspection Department at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.

The final point of interest is whether Lee Sang-hyun, Head of the Criminal Division 5 at the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office, who requested an arrest warrant for former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu in the ‘Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Economic Feasibility Manipulation’ case, and Lee Jeong-seop, Head of the Criminal Division 3 at the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, who is investigating Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu and Chief Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon regarding the ‘illegal departure ban’ case involving former Deputy Minister Kim Hak-eui, will remain in their posts and continue their investigations.

Previously, in the prosecutor general-level appointments, Lee Doo-bong, Chief Prosecutor of the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office, and Moon Hong-seong, Chief Prosecutor of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, were retained. Given that investigations are actively ongoing, replacing division chiefs at this time could cause unnecessary misunderstandings, so retention is likely. However, since the Blue House is reportedly dissatisfied with the current investigation team’s intensity, the possibility of replacing division chiefs at the team leader level cannot be ruled out.

Since the previous senior executive appointments were minor and there are few follow-up personnel factors, and considering that a large-scale reshuffle is inevitable after Prosecutor General Yoon’s retirement in July, this mid-level personnel appointment is also expected to be limited in scope.

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