Kim Osu's Appointment Proceeding... Organization, Personnel, and Investigation to Be Immediately Evaluated

Nominee Kim Osu May Be Appointed as Early as Next Week... From Ministerial Aide to Prosecutor General, Attention on Whether He Will Represent the Prosecution's Position

Kim Oh-soo, the nominee for Prosecutor General, is wearing a mask properly while attending the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 26th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] A new Prosecutor General is expected to be appointed as early as next week. It will be the de facto last Prosecutor General of the Moon Jae-in administration, just over three months after former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol resigned. The new appointee will be responsible for finalizing the Moon administration's prosecution reforms and must also present their stance on the reorganization and personnel matters of the prosecution, putting them immediately on a test to determine political bias.

According to the legal community on the 28th, President Moon, who requested again the submission of the confirmation hearing report for nominee Kim Oh-soo the day before, is expected to proceed with the appointment process after the 31st. According to the Confirmation Hearing Act, if the National Assembly fails to adopt the hearing report by the deadline requested by the president, the president can appoint the nominee immediately.

Within the prosecution, Kim's appointment is also being regarded as a foregone conclusion. A prosecution official said, "The breakdown of the hearing was not due to controversy over Kim's suitability but was a result of partisan conflict, so the verification process was not even conducted," adding, "It seems that the ruling party and the Blue House do not consider the raised suspicions to be a major issue."

Moreover, during previous appointments of Prosecutor Generals and Ministers of Justice, President Moon pushed through appointments despite fierce opposition from the opposition party. Former Prosecutor General Yoon and former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae were appointed after only one day of report submission, and Minister Park Beom-gye and former Minister Cho Kuk were given two and three days respectively. Considering this, Kim's appointment is highly likely to be carried out in the middle or late next week.

Once the appointment procedure is completed, Kim will immediately face a test. He must first present his stance on the prosecution reorganization and personnel matters being promoted by Minister Park. The Ministry of Justice has also stated its intention to discuss the personnel principles and standards of the Prosecution Personnel Committee and the prosecution reorganization plan with the new Prosecutor General.

Some speculate that, having moved from a ministerial aide position to the head of the prosecution, Kim may represent the prosecution organization. During the hearing, Kim expressed agreement with the "separation of investigation and prosecution" and "reduction of direct prosecution by the prosecution," but emphasized that the establishment of the criminal justice system is a priority. This is interpreted as suggesting that the complete removal of prosecution investigative authority (Geomsu Wanbak) is premature. In his written responses before the hearing, Kim also indirectly expressed a negative view on the establishment of a Serious Crime Investigation Agency.

Judgments on investigations related to the administration must also be made one after another. Representative cases include the Optimus and Lime incidents, allegations of manipulation of the economic feasibility evaluation of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1, the Kim Hak-eui case, and planned investigations originating from the Blue House.

Because of this, the atmosphere within the prosecution has rapidly changed around Kim's hearing. After former Prosecutor General Yoon's resignation, Cho Nam-gwan, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office who led the prosecution, recently showed a stance to "re-discuss with the next Prosecutor General whether to indict" regarding the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office's report to indict a key figure in the "early shutdown suspicion of Wolseong Unit 1 Nuclear Power Plant."

Some raise the possibility that the handling of major cases may all be delayed. A prosecution official said, "In a situation where the responsibility for handling major cases inevitably passes to nominee Kim, it will take considerable time just to receive detailed reports and review those cases," adding, "If this overlaps with organizational restructuring and personnel matters, normal case handling may become difficult."

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