Ministry of Justice Appoints 73 New Prosecutors from Law Schools... Highest Number Ever

Park Beom-gye Urges Restrained and Proper Exercise of Prosecutorial Authority

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye is presenting appointment letters to prosecutors at the inauguration ceremony for new prosecutors held at the Government Complex Gwacheon on the morning of the 3rd.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 3rd, the Ministry of Justice newly appointed 73 successful candidates from the 10th Bar Examination, who graduated from law schools (hereinafter referred to as "Law Schools"), as prosecutors.

Since the first appointment of 42 successful candidates from the 1st Bar Examination in 2012, the largest number of appointees as prosecutors was 70 last year, but this time the record was broken with the highest number ever.

They were appointed as prosecutors after undergoing practical record evaluations and personality tests in September last year, followed by a three-stage competency evaluation in October of the same year, including job performance, presentation skills, and debate persuasion, and then an organizational competency evaluation in November last year.

This time as well, new prosecutors appointed from law school graduates who passed the bar exam included those with diverse backgrounds such as certified public accountants, dentists, police officers, and public institution employees (Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency).

Only 15 prosecutors majored in law during their undergraduate studies, accounting for 20.5% of the total, while more than 79% were non-law majors such as economics, business administration, philosophy, Korean language and literature, clothing studies, architecture, and computer science.

The Ministry of Justice decided to improve the new prosecutor selection process starting this year, in line with the abolition of the judicial examination and the end of the Judicial Research and Training Institute era.

The Ministry plans to simplify the current four-stage competency evaluation into two stages to reduce the burden on applicants and adjust the timing of the selection process to minimize overlap with the regular academic schedule of law schools.

These newly appointed prosecutors will complete about nine months of training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, including lectures on criminal law theory and practice, prosecution investigation practice, investigation techniques, practical record evaluation, and prosecutor ethics education, followed by approximately three months of practical training at frontline prosecution offices.

A Ministry of Justice official stated, “The newly appointed prosecutors will complete about nine months of necessary education and training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute to perform their duties as prosecutors, and then be assigned to frontline prosecution offices to begin their official duties as prosecutors.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye quoted a line from the movie Jasan Eobo during the new prosecutor commissioning ceremony held at the Government Complex Gwacheon on the morning of the same day: “Questions are study itself. Memorization-only study has ruined this country.” He emphasized, “It is time to boldly question the prosecution and media roles that we have only memorized and fossilized so far,” and added, “Only prosecutors themselves can pioneer a new future.”

Minister Park also urged for restrained and proper exercise of prosecutorial power, saying, “The role of judicial controllers must be strengthened. We must respond firmly and without hesitation to illegal investigations and wrongful or excessive law enforcement.”

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