Today Park Beom-gye Meets Kim Oh-soo for Greetings and Organizational Restructuring Talks... How Much Will Chief Prosecutor Kim's Opinions Be Reflected?

Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo is having a cordial meeting with Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye on the 2nd during his inaugural visit. / Photo by Ministry of Justice

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 4th, Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, will meet Kim Oh-soo, Prosecutor General, to discuss personnel appointments for senior prosecutors at the chief prosecutor level and above, as well as organizational restructuring plans.

With promotions to chief prosecutor expected for the 29th and 30th classes of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, attention is focused on how much Prosecutor General Kim's opinions will be reflected in the personnel changes, which could be implemented as early as late this week or by early next week at the latest.

Minister Park will listen to Prosecutor General Kim's opinions on personnel appointments at the chief prosecutor level and above from 4 p.m. at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul.

When Minister Park took office, he also met twice in private with then-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl before the personnel changes carried out in February.

However, without reflecting Yoon's opinions at all, the personnel changes were announced suddenly on a Sunday, sparking controversy over the 'passing over' of former Prosecutor General Yoon and former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Shin Hyun-soo.

In contrast, since Prosecutor General Kim was appointed after serving as Deputy Minister of Justice under the current administration and gaining the regime's trust, it is expected that Minister Park will reflect Kim's opinions to some extent in the actual personnel appointments.

The biggest interest in this personnel change is who will succeed Lee Sung-yoon as head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the largest prosecution office in the country.

Within prosecution circles, Shim Jae-cheol, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (29th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), who thoroughly sided with then-Minister Chu Mi-ae during last year's 'Chu-Yoon conflict' and led the disciplinary request against Prosecutor General Yoon, is considered the most likely candidate.

There is also speculation that Lee Jung-soo, Director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice (26th class), who is relatively well-regarded within the prosecution for his sense of balance, may be appointed.

Meanwhile, Prosecutor General Kim conveyed internal prosecution concerns about the organizational restructuring plan that limits direct investigations by the Criminal Division and requires approval from the Prosecutor General or Minister before initiating investigations during a courtesy visit to Minister Park on the previous day.

Minister Park stated that since this organizational restructuring plan requires amending the Presidential Decree (Regulations on the Organization of the Prosecutor's Office), he does not intend to rush the process.

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