A New Prosecutor General Emerges... The True Test for 'Organization, Personnel, and Investigation'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The last Prosecutor General of the Moon Jae-in administration has been appointed. Just over three months after former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl resigned, President Moon approved the appointment of nominee Kim Oh-soo as Prosecutor General on the afternoon of the 31st. Kim's term will begin on June 1. Accordingly, President Moon is scheduled to present the appointment letter to Kim on the afternoon of the 1st.

Kim must take responsibility for the final stages of the Moon administration's prosecution reform while also presenting his stance on the reorganization and personnel affairs of the prosecution. First, it is necessary to clarify his position on the prosecution reorganization and personnel matters being promoted by Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye. 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.

He must also address the backlash within the prosecution caused by this. Following Minister Park's remark on the 27th about the 'bottleneck in appointments at the level of chief prosecutors' and his announcement of a disruptive personnel reshuffle, resignations among senior prosecution officials have continued. On the 28th, following Seoul High Prosecutor Cho Sang-chul, Suwon High Prosecutor Oh In-seo and Incheon District Prosecutor Go Heung also tendered their resignations.

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

He must also make judgments on investigations related to the administration. Representative cases include the Optimus and Lime incidents, allegations of manipulation in the economic 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 is rapidly changing. After former Prosecutor General Yoon's resignation, Deputy Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan, who was leading the prosecution, recently showed a stance of 're-discussing with the next Prosecutor General whether to indict' regarding the Daejeon District Prosecutor's Office's report to indict a key figure in the 'early shutdown suspicion of Wolseong Unit 1 Nuclear Power Plant.'

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

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