Park Beom-gye, Prosecutor Personnel and Organizational Restructuring "Will Hear Chief Prosecutor Kim Oh-soo's Opinion"

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye is attending the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 25th of last month. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, announced on the 1st that he would listen to and review Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo's opinions regarding the prosecution organization reform and personnel changes being promoted by the Ministry of Justice.

After concluding the Cabinet meeting that day and on his way into the Ministry of Justice Gwacheon Office, Park responded to reporters' questions about the prosecution organization reform by saying, "I have received a report from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office compiling opinions from frontline prosecution offices," and added, "I will listen to Prosecutor General Kim's opinions and review them within a reasonable scope."

He also added, "If there is room for adjustment after hearing Prosecutor General Kim's opinions, within the bounds of protecting human rights, judicial control, and preventing abuse of investigative authority, I think adjustments could be made."

The Ministry of Justice is promoting an amendment to the 'Regulations on the Organization and Operation of Prosecution Offices' to reduce the scope of criminal investigations by the Criminal Division concerning the remaining 'six major crimes' under prosecution jurisdiction, and to require approval from the Prosecutor General or Minister before initiating investigations.

The Ministry of Justice sent an official letter to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office requesting the collection of opinions from frontline prosecution offices regarding this organizational reform plan, and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office gathered opinions from frontline prosecution offices and itself and delivered them to the Ministry of Justice the day before.

The opinion letter reportedly contained concerns about the weakening of investigative capabilities due to the reduction of direct investigative functions of the Criminal Division and worries about the Minister of Justice's intervention in investigations.

Meanwhile, regarding the upcoming personnel changes for senior executives at the level of chief prosecutors and above, Minister Park stated, "I will meet Prosecutor General Kim to hear his opinions."

However, when asked about the series of resignations from senior executives at the level of high prosecutors and district prosecutors ahead of the personnel changes, Minister Park avoided a direct answer, saying, "It would not be appropriate to comment on that."

Since Minister Park had previously stated several times that he would substantiate the procedure of listening to the Prosecutor General's opinions regarding personnel matters, a meeting between Minister Park and Prosecutor General Kim is expected to take place soon.

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