The top vote in the Prosecutor General Recommendation Committee is Jo Nam-gwan... What will be Park Beom-gye's final choice?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] It appears that the final single candidate for the last Prosecutor General under the current administration will be decided this week. Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, who must recommend the appointment to President Moon Jae-in, stated that he will make a decision within this week.

Meanwhile, as the voting results of the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee (Recommendation Committee), which recommended four candidates to Minister Park, have been revealed, more attention is focused on Minister Park’s choice.

According to the legal community on the 2nd, the Recommendation Committee held two rounds of voting on the 29th of last month to decide the four candidates for Prosecutor General. In the first round, Cho Nam-gwan, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (acting Prosecutor General), ranked first, and Bae Seong-beom, Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, ranked second, thus securing early spots as final candidates. In the second round, Koo Bon-seon, Chief Prosecutor of Gwangju High Prosecutors’ Office, and Kim Oh-soo, former Deputy Minister of Justice, were selected as final candidates.

When ranked by total votes, Deputy Cho was first. On the other hand, Kim, the former Deputy Minister, who was considered a strong candidate with a 'pro-government' inclination, was reportedly fourth. Bae was second, and Koo was third.

Some in the legal community analyze that Minister Park might be in a dilemma because of these voting results. Since the outcome differed from the government’s and Minister Park’s expectations, it is believed that he has not made an immediate decision.

After receiving the results of the four candidates from the Recommendation Committee, Minister Park said, "I need to consider carefully," and questioned, "If former Deputy Minister Kim is the leading candidate, why would there be a reason to deliberate?"

When asked whether he would recommend a candidate aligned with the president’s state philosophy, he replied, "Our country is a presidential system," and added, "The depoliticization of the prosecution is President Moon’s conviction, which I have witnessed for nearly 20 years."

By this standard, former Deputy Minister Kim Oh-soo is considered the most likely candidate.

Since the Moon Jae-in administration began, he has often been listed among candidates for key positions such as the Financial Supervisory Service Governor, Fair Trade Commission Chairman, and Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Chairman. Having consecutively supported former Ministers Park Sang-ki, Cho Kuk, and Choo Mi-ae, he also has a good understanding of the government’s prosecution reform plans.

However, within the prosecution organization, there are concerns about whether he is suitable to maintain the prosecution’s political neutrality. It is also evaluated that during his tenure as Deputy Minister, he sided with the government amid conflicts between the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, losing the trust of his juniors.

In terms of trust within the prosecution organization alone, Deputy Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan is considered the most likely candidate. He is praised for managing the organization well while acting as Prosecutor General.

In particular, he left a strong impression on the organization by publicly appealing to former Minister Choo Mi-ae, who promoted him to Chief Prosecutor, to withdraw the disciplinary request against former Prosecutor General Yoon. When Minister Park issued an investigation directive regarding the alleged false testimony in the case involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, Deputy Cho devised a clever plan to involve chief prosecutors in the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s department heads meeting, which helped to smoothly resolve the issue.

There is also speculation that Koo Bon-seon, Chief Prosecutor of Gwangju High Prosecutors’ Office, could emerge as a candidate.

Chief Prosecutor Koo, who is from Incheon, is noted for having no strong regional or political affiliations, which is considered a strength. Having served as a spokesperson for the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office for a long time, he is evaluated as having wide connections and good affinity. He is also known to have a close friendship with Minister Park from their days at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

Another candidate, Bae Seong-beom, Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, is also from Gyeongnam and is not politically inclined. However, before serving as Director, he was the Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, where he oversaw investigations into former Minister Cho Kuk’s family corruption and the alleged interference in the Ulsan mayoral election, leading to evaluations that he fell out of favor with the administration.

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