Ahead of the Launch of the Park Beom-gye-Kim Oh-soo Regime... Harsh Personnel Changes 'Typhoon Before the Storm in Prosecution'

Park Beom-gye, Ahead of Early June Senior Executive Personnel Changes, Mentions 'Personnel Bottleneck' and 'Position System Review'... Effectively Pressure to Resign
'Taxi Driver Assault' Lee Yong-gu, Deputy Minister of Justice, Finally Submits Resignation

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye and Prosecutor General nominee Kim Oh-soo. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@, Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Seokjin Choi, Kyunghwan Bae] As the Park Beom-gye Ministry of Justice Minister-Kim Oh-soo Prosecutor General system is about to launch, a tense atmosphere of a harsh personnel reshuffle is spreading within the prosecution.

According to political circles on the 28th, President Moon Jae-in is highly likely to proceed with the appointment procedure for Prosecutor General nominee Kim as early as next week. According to the Public Hearing Act, if the National Assembly fails to adopt the hearing report by the deadline requested by the president, the appointment can be made immediately.

Previously, during the appointments of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and former Ministers of Justice Chu Mi-ae and Cho Kuk, President Moon pushed through the appointments despite opposition from the opposition party.

Once nominee Kim goes through the appointment process, he will immediately face a test. He must first present his stance on the prosecution's organizational reform and personnel matters being promoted by Minister Park.

Some speculate that since his position has changed from a ministerial aide to the head of the prosecution, he may represent the prosecution organization.

During the hearing, nominee Kim expressed agreement with the 'separation of investigation and prosecution' and 'reduction of direct prosecution by the prosecution,' but emphasized that the priority is the stabilization of the changed criminal justice system. This is interpreted as suggesting that the ruling party's push for 검수완박 (complete removal of prosecution's investigative authority) is premature.

In written answers submitted to the National Assembly before the hearing, nominee Kim also indirectly expressed a negative view on the plan to establish a Serious Crime Investigation Agency.

He will also have to make judgments on investigations related to the administration. 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-ui illegal departure case, and planned investigations originating from the Blue House.

Acting Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan recently received a report from the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office about indicting a key figure in the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant case' and reportedly instructed to 're-discuss the indictment decision with the next Prosecutor General.'

Meanwhile, if nominee Kim is appointed Prosecutor General, Minister Park is expected to promptly carry out personnel appointments for senior prosecution officials such as high prosecutors and chief prosecutors after hearing the Prosecutor General's opinions on specific personnel plans, as previously announced.

The day before, the Ministry of Justice announced that after the conclusion of the Prosecution Personnel Committee, it plans to announce personnel appointments for prosecutors at the chief prosecutor level and above in early next month.

At the Prosecution Personnel Committee, a 'flexible personnel' plan to resolve the backlog of senior prosecutors with high seniority was discussed.

Before the Prosecution Personnel Committee meeting, Minister Park also stated, "There is some personnel backlog," and "There are various difficulties related to assignments, so it seems the time has come to review everything comprehensively."

Within prosecution circles, Minister Park's remarks are being interpreted as a de facto resignation pressure on high prosecutors and chief prosecutors who have not actively supported the prosecution reform measures or investigation directives promoted by the government or the Ministry of Justice.

Traditionally, before senior personnel appointments, there was a culture in the prosecution where the Ministry of Justice's Prosecutor General's Office or the Deputy Prosecutor General would inform high prosecutors who might find it difficult to get their desired assignments in the next personnel reshuffle in advance, giving them the opportunity to decide whether to voluntarily retire.

However, since the previous close relationship between the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution no longer exists, if it becomes known that resignation was encouraged, Minister Park could potentially be accused of abuse of power.

Therefore, it is speculated that after sending a message to 'leave voluntarily' through expressions like 'personnel backlog' and 'flexible personnel,' high prosecutors who still do not resign will be demoted to chief prosecutor-level positions by reversing the seniority order of Judicial Research and Training Institute classes, as a form of 'humiliation.'

In the judiciary, with the introduction of the 'lifetime judge system,' there has been an increase in cases where senior judges who have stepped down from court president positions return to frontline trial courts, but it is not appropriate to compare the judiciary, where each judge independently conducts trials, with the prosecution, which operates under a unified investigation command system.

A lawyer A, a former senior prosecution official, pointed out, "Although the principle of the unity of prosecutors has been abolished, in terms of unified investigations of similar crimes such as real estate speculation cases across prosecution offices nationwide, the hierarchical system of prosecutors is inevitable," and added, "If a high prosecutor is demoted to chief prosecutor through personnel reshuffle, it can only be interpreted as a message to leave."

Among high prosecutors and chief prosecutors who have been considering voluntary retirement, some are reportedly firming their decision to resign following Minister Park's statement. Especially in this personnel reshuffle, it is highly expected that demotions will be carried out for high prosecutors and chief prosecutors who led investigations related to the administration.

Meanwhile, Lee Yong-gu, Deputy Minister of Justice, who is under investigation for assaulting a taxi driver while driving, has tendered his resignation. This is interpreted as an unavoidable choice to ease the burden on Minister Park, who is about to carry out personnel appointments at a time when prosecution is close to indicting him.

With the replacement of Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who was indicted on charges of 'investigation interference' related to the 'Kim Hak-ui illegal departure,' candidates for his successor include Kim Kwan-jung, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, Lee Jung-soo, Director of the Ministry of Justice Prosecutor General's Office, and Shim Jae-chul, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office.

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