[Breaking] Kim Osu, Gu Bonseon, Bae Seongbeom, Jo Namgwan nominated for Prosecutor General... Lee Seongyun eliminated

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyungmin Kim and Daehyun Kim] The Prosecutor General Recommendation Committee has decided to recommend four candidates for the next Prosecutor General to the Minister of Justice: former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Osu, Gwangju High Prosecutor General Gu Bonseon, Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute Bae Seongbeom, and Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Jo Namgwan.

Lee Seongyun, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor General who was considered a leading candidate, was not included in the candidate pool.

The recommendation committee held a meeting on the 29th and recommended these four candidates to Minister of Justice Park Beomgye. Minister Park is expected to select one of them as the final candidate soon and propose the nomination to President Moon Jaein. After the president's nomination and subsequent procedures such as the National Assembly confirmation hearing, the new Prosecutor General is expected to be appointed around the end of May.

It is noteworthy that Prosecutor Lee, who was mentioned as a leading candidate with a 'pro-government' inclination, was excluded from the candidates. Analysts believe that allegations of investigation interference ultimately hindered his candidacy.

Prosecutor Lee became a suspect over allegations that he exerted external pressure on the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Anyang Branch, which investigated the illegal travel ban on former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hakui, while serving as head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in 2019. The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, which is investigating Prosecutor Lee, plans to indict him soon.

However, former Minister of Justice Park Sanggi, who presided over the meeting, stated regarding Prosecutor Lee's exclusion, "I do not believe the prosecution investigation had any influence," and "We did not discuss it in detail."

After the meeting, former Minister Park said, "We proceeded fairly and transparently according to the regulations."

He added, "The atmosphere of the meeting was good," and "Everyone was satisfied with the process. There were no significant disagreements regarding the results."

He also said, "Although voting was conducted when necessary, it was not considered crucial. Overall, the decision was made by consensus."

Meanwhile, the recommendation committee meeting started at 10 a.m. and ended after about three hours and thirty minutes. All committee members attended, and after about two hours of discussion, they took a lunch break and resumed around 12:30 p.m. to conclude the meeting.

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