Lee Seong-yoon, Han Dong-hoon, Im Eun-jeong... Included in the Next Prosecutor General Candidate Pool

Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee to Meet on the Morning of the 29th... Appointment Expected Around Late May Considering Additional Selection Process

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Ministry of Justice has submitted the list of candidates for the next Prosecutor General to the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee. It is reported that Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is under investigation by the prosecution on suspicion of exerting external pressure on the investigation related to the illegal travel ban case of former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, as well as Lim Eun-jung, Inspection Policy Research Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, have been nominated as candidates.

According to the legal community on the 26th, the list submitted by the Ministry of Justice to the committee on that day included about 10 candidates, including Chief Prosecutor Lee, along with their evaluation materials.

In particular, the list included not only Chief Prosecutor Lee but also Cho Nam-gwan, Acting Prosecutor General, Koo Bon-seon, Chief Prosecutor of Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office, Yang Bu-nam, former Chief Prosecutor of Busan High Prosecutors' Office, and Bae Seong-beom, Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, who were recommended during the public nomination period in March. Additionally, Lim, who clashed with former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over the alleged perjury case involving Han Myeong-sook, and Prosecutor Han, a close aide to former Prosecutor General Yoon, were also included in the candidate list.

The recommendation committee will hold a meeting at 10 a.m. on the 29th to narrow down the candidates to three or more and recommend them to Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye. After Minister Park nominates the final candidate, President Moon Jae-in will appoint the new Prosecutor General. Considering the subsequent confirmation hearing process, the new Prosecutor General is expected to begin their term in late May or early June.

Meanwhile, Minister Park, regarding his mention of the "correlation with the President's state affairs philosophy" as a criterion for selecting the next Prosecutor General during his commute on the day, stated, "I will keep that in mind." He added, "The departure from political prosecution has been President Moon Jae-in's long-standing wish. I will not elaborate further as every detail I mention could influence the personnel process. There is also a Judiciary Committee meeting tomorrow," he said.

Earlier, on the 23rd, Minister Park had stated that the criterion for selecting the next Prosecutor General would be "a strong correlation with the President's state affairs philosophy." In response, Cho Eung-cheon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized, "I doubted my ears at Minister Park's words. I am really concerned about what the Minister thinks about prosecutorial reform," and added, "It seems the Minister has too casually admitted that he wants a prosecution that listens well, which is quite surprising."

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