Prosecutor Mid-Level Executive Personnel Announcement Today... Minor Transfers Likely to Fill Vacancies Only

Jonamgwan, Deputy Prosecutor General, Requests Ministry of Justice Not to Make "Pincette Personnel Changes"
Prosecutor Personnel Committee Ends After About One Hour

(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. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Mid-level prosecutor personnel changes, including deputy chief prosecutors and chief prosecutors, will be implemented on the 22nd.

Amid reports that Shin Hyun-soo, the Blue House civil affairs chief who had tendered his resignation due to conflicts in the high-level prosecutor personnel appointments, has withdrawn his resignation and left his position to be decided by President Moon Jae-in, this personnel change is expected to be a minor adjustment aimed at filling vacancies.

The Ministry of Justice announced that it held a Prosecutor Personnel Committee meeting from 10 a.m. for about 1 hour and 10 minutes to discuss the standards and principles of this personnel change, and plans to announce the mid-level prosecutor personnel changes at the level of senior prosecutors on the 26th.

Regarding the results of the Prosecutor Personnel Committee deliberations, the Ministry of Justice stated, "This senior prosecutor-level personnel change is conducted to fill vacancies caused by resignation intentions and to implement the return and replacement of dispatched senior prosecutors such as legal cooperation officers," adding, "Considering that major position personnel changes have been continuously made every six months over the past year and a half, and that a large-scale transfer is expected in the second half of this year, we have decided to minimize transfers to the level of filling vacancies."

It further added, "The existing personnel policy has been maintained, favoring prosecutors who have been dedicated to continuing prosecutorial reform tasks amid organizational stability, protecting human rights, and focusing on criminal and trial work directly related to people's livelihoods."

The Ministry of Justice is also reported to have expressed to the Personnel Committee its intention to carry out a small-scale personnel change this time, similar to the high-level personnel changes earlier this month, to ensure the stability of the prosecution organization and continuity of major investigations.

Cho Nam-gwan, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, met with reporters on his way to the Prosecutor Personnel Committee on the same day and said, "The Supreme Prosecutors' Office strongly requested to maintain the current status of investigation teams handling important ongoing cases and the chief prosecutors of the Central District Prosecutors' Office, while filling vacancies caused by resignations and avoiding arbitrary 'pinpoint personnel changes.'"

He also expressed regret, saying, "Regarding this personnel change, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office requested a wide-scale personnel normalization, but the Ministry of Justice notified us of a principle of small-scale personnel changes to fill vacancies for organizational stability."

He added, "I understand that the root cause of the civil affairs chief's resignation controversy was that the Prosecutor General's opinions were not accepted during the personnel coordination process," and said, "I hope that there will be no further conflicts over personnel matters and that a stable cooperative relationship between the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office will be restored."

The most anticipated point in this mid-level personnel change is whether prosecutors trusted by Lee Sung-yoon, the chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, will be assigned to the 1st to 4th deputy chief prosecutors or heads of major investigative departments within the office.

Among the candidates to succeed Kim Wook-joon, the 1st deputy chief prosecutor who resigned after showing differences with Chief Lee during the disciplinary request process against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, are Moon Sung-in, 1st deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office from Wando, Jeonnam (28th Judicial Research and Training Institute class), Kim Hyung-geun, deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office from Seoul (29th class), and Kim Yang-soo, deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office from Iksan, Jeonbuk (29th class). All three are evaluated to have been well managed in their positions and have extensive experience in special investigations.

Deputy Chief Moon served as head of the Financial Investigation Division 1 and the Securities Crime Joint Investigation Team at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, and 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 Special Investigation Division, head of the Special Investigation Division at Busan and Incheon District Prosecutors' Offices, head of the Investigation Command Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 at the Central District Prosecutors' Office. Deputy Chief Kim Yang-soo also served as a researcher at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Special Investigation Division, head of the Investigation Division 2 at the Central District Prosecutors' Office, and was the practical head of the Gangwon Land recruitment corruption investigation team.

It is widely expected that Byun Pil-geon, head of the Criminal Division 1, who opposed Chief Lee regarding the 'Channel A coercion attempt' case and Han Dong-hoon, and Choi Sung-pil, the 2nd deputy chief prosecutor who also gave a no-charge opinion, will be replaced.

In line with this, attention will also be paid to 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, the Ministry of Justice's prosecutor division chief, will be promoted, or whether Jeong Tae-won, head of the Inspection Division 3 and special inspection team who voiced opposition, or Im Seung-cheol, head of Inspection Division 1, will be demoted.

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-kyu related to the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant economic feasibility evaluation manipulation' case, and Lee Jung-seop, head of the Criminal Division 3 at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigating Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu and Chief Lee regarding the 'illegal departure ban' case involving former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, will remain in their posts and continue their investigations.

If Chief Shin withdraws his resignation and returns to work, it is expected that he will once again play a role in mediating opinions between Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye and Prosecutor General Yoon, whose relationship had escalated into extreme conflict following the high-level personnel changes.

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