Kim Oh-soo Aims to Restore Leadership... Will He Take a Hard Line on Personnel and Political Investigations?

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye holds 4-hour emergency meeting... Uncertain if Prosecutor's Office opinions will be reflected

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Attention is focused on how Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo's opposition will affect the revision of the prosecution's organizational reform plan. Since Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye evaluated it as "quite strong" and even held an emergency meeting with Prosecutor General Kim, it is expected to be a considerable variable. However, there is also an interpretation that it is a move by Prosecutor General Kim to consolidate internal control, conscious of opposition within the prosecution. The position of the new Prosecutor General will be judged by the upcoming organizational reform, mid-level executive personnel appointments, and decisions on major investigations.

According to the legal community on the 9th, Minister Park and Prosecutor General Kim exchanged legal views on the prosecution's organizational reform plan the previous evening. Minister Park explained that they narrowed their differences considerably during the meeting.

The day before, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office issued a statement titled 'Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Position on the Organizational Reform Plan,' expressing difficulty in accepting the Ministry of Justice's reform plan. It stated, "It is difficult to accept limiting direct investigations by the criminal divisions of frontline prosecution offices by organizational structure due to various problems, and most prosecutors at frontline offices have expressed concerns," thereby rejecting the organizational reform plan. In particular, the part requiring district prosecutors' offices to obtain ministerial approval before conducting direct investigations was strongly criticized as "seriously undermining the political neutrality and independence of the prosecution."

Minister Park's response was also strong. After evaluating the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's opposition as "quite strong," he even smiled and said, regarding the criticism that it "seriously undermines political neutrality and independence," "That's a valid point."

Although the two leaders reportedly narrowed their differences through the meeting, it is uncertain whether Prosecutor General Kim's opinions will be reflected. In previous high-level prosecution personnel appointments, Prosecutor General Kim strongly expressed his opinions but the process ended amid controversy over 'bypassing the Prosecutor General.' Before the appointments, Prosecutor General Kim pushed for the reinstatement of some personnel, including Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon, but it was reportedly not reflected. This eventually led to controversy over personnel bias, and Prosecutor General Kim was criticized for failing to prevent it.

This is why attention is focused on the remaining organizational reform and mid-level executive personnel appointments. Since Prosecutor General Kim has officially opposed the organizational reform plan and exchanged opinions with Minister Park through additional meetings, the degree to which the prosecution's voice is reflected could lead to different evaluations of Prosecutor General Kim's leadership.

Prosecutor General Kim's decisions on major ongoing investigations are also noteworthy. In the case of the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Economic Feasibility Evaluation Manipulation Suspicion,' three officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy were indicted for involvement in deleting or erasing data and have completed their first trial, but the decision to indict key figures such as former Minister Baek Woon-gyu and former Blue House Industrial Policy Secretary Chae Hee-bong has not yet been made. The Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office investigation team handling this case reported to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in mid-last month their intention to indict former Minister Baek and former Secretary Chae without detention on charges of abuse of authority, but then-acting Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan sent an official letter stating, "Discuss with the next Prosecutor General."

The 'Kim Hak-eui Illegal Departure Ban Suspicion' case also changed when Oh In-seo, head of the Suwon High Prosecutors' Office who was in charge of the investigation, submitted a protest resignation over delays in case handling by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Prosecutor General Kim was involved in the Kim Hak-eui case and underwent a written investigation, but the investigation team reportedly concluded that legal responsibility could not be imposed on Prosecutor General Kim. However, Prosecutor General Kim has expressed his intention to avoid the case. The decision on whether to indict Lee Kwang-chul, Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary, is pending in this case.

There is also the judgment on former Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu's taxi driver assault allegation. Recently, a video showing Lee's face during the assault was released, and indictment is likely, but Prosecutor General Kim's judgment is expected to be reflected in the adjustment of the punishment level. A lawyer from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said, "Unlike high-level personnel appointments, mid-level executive appointments reflect the prosecution's opinions to a greater extent, but this appointment is a follow-up measure to the organizational reform, so the situation is different from before," adding, "Ultimately, the position of the prosecution during Prosecutor General Kim's term can be gauged by the organizational reform and the results of major investigations."

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