Prosecutor Personnel Shakeup... Red Light for Regime Cases vs. Yoon Seok-yeol's Rapid Investigation

Seoul Seocho-dong Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] With the mid-level prosecutor personnel changes carried out last week effective from the 2nd of next month, all the investigation team leaders handling regime-related cases such as the ‘Kim Hak-eui illegal deportation’ and the ‘Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant’ have been replaced, casting a red light on the continuation of investigations and prosecution maintenance.

On the other hand, investigations into cases related to former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, which began under the investigative directive of then Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae last year, are expected to accelerate as the command line has been replaced with pro-government prosecutors.

According to the legal community on the 28th, the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office’s ‘Kim Hak-eui Case Investigation Team’ (led by Lee Jeong-seop, Head of Criminal Division 3), which is investigating allegations of ‘illegal deportation’ and ‘investigation pressure’ against former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-eui, reported the prosecution plan against Lee Gwang-cheol, Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House, to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office for the fourth time just before this personnel announcement but had not received approval by that day.

Lee, who served as a senior administrative officer in the Blue House Civil Affairs Office in March 2019, is suspected of directly intervening in the illegal deportation process of former Deputy Minister Kim and being involved in exerting pressure on the illegal deportation investigation by the Anyang branch of Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office in June of the same year.

Previously, the indictment against Lee Sung-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, stated that Lee had contacted Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won, who was a classmate at the Judicial Research and Training Institute and had worked at the same law firm, and conveyed to Cho Kuk, then Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, a request to tell the prosecution to allow the prosecutor to leave the country without investigation as he was about to study abroad.

However, with Lee Jeong-seop, who had been overseeing the investigation, being transferred to Head of Criminal Division 2 at Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office in this personnel reshuffle, and most prosecutors from the investigation team expected to be moved in the upcoming regular prosecutor personnel changes, it has become uncertain whether the investigation can be concluded. Moreover, due to the reorganization of the prosecution office, the department responsible for the investigation is likely to change to Criminal Division 6.

In the high-level personnel changes made earlier this month, Kim Gwan-jeong, former Head of Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office, was appointed as Chief Prosecutor of Suwon High Prosecutors’ Office, and Shin Seong-sik, former Head of Anti-Corruption and Violence Division at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, was appointed as Chief Prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office; both are prosecutors with strong trust from the current administration.

In this personnel reshuffle, Lee Sang-hyun, Head of Criminal Division 5 at Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office who investigated the ‘Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant’ case, was transferred to Head of Criminal Division 3 at Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office, and Byun Pil-geon, Head of Criminal Division 1 at Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office who investigated the ‘Blue House planned inspection’ allegations, was moved to Human Rights Protection Officer at Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office. Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office’s Criminal Division 1 had planned to summon Byun again for investigation on the 3rd of next month, but with the personnel changes effective from the 2nd, the investigation is inevitably delayed.

The ‘Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant’ case, which has yet to conclude investigations into the higher-ups involved, such as former Blue House Industrial Policy Secretary Chae Hee-bong (currently President of Korea Gas Corporation) and former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu, is also expected to lose momentum.

Due to the organizational restructuring, Criminal Division 5, which had been handling the case, was abolished, and Criminal Division 4 took over the investigation. The new head of Criminal Division 4 is Kim Young-nam, Deputy Chief Prosecutor from Busan Western District Prosecutors’ Office who was dispatched to the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

One active prosecutor commented, “In important cases that have been socially significant, the chief prosecutor who led the investigation usually participated directly in the trial to maintain the prosecution. Since the minister is unlikely to issue a deputy appointment, this kind of direct involvement is now out of the question, and it is highly likely that the investigation will no longer make progress due to this personnel change.”

On the other hand, investigations into cases related to former Prosecutor General Yoon, which had not shown significant progress so far, are expected to accelerate.

Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is currently investigating bribery allegations under the name of sponsorship money involving ‘Kobana Contents,’ an exhibition planning company represented by Yoon’s wife Kim Geon-hee, as well as stock price manipulation of Deutsche Motors and preferential stock trading of Deutsche Financial, through the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2.

Additionally, Criminal Division 13 is investigating bribery allegations against Yoon’s close aide, Yoon Dae-jin, Planning Director at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and his brother Yoon Woo-jin, former head of Yongsan Tax Office. The ‘forgery of private documents and fraud’ case involving Yoon’s mother-in-law, which was referred to the police by Criminal Division 3, was dismissed by the police, but if the complainant files an objection, the investigation may be resumed.

Jeong Yong-hwan, Head of Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 who had been in charge of investigations related to former Prosecutor General Yoon, was promoted to Head of Anti-Corruption and Violence Investigation Division 1, which merged with the Violent Crimes Division due to the organizational restructuring, and Jo Ju-yeon, Chief Prosecutor of Jeongeup District Prosecutors’ Office, was appointed as his successor. Following the appointment of Lee Jeong-su, former Director of the Prosecutor’s Office at the Ministry of Justice who enjoys strong trust from the current government, as Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, and Kim Tae-hoon, Prosecutor at the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecutor Division, as the 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor in charge of anti-corruption investigations, the investigation is expected to gain momentum.

In particular, there is speculation that investigations may expand related to the ‘Optimus inadequate investigation’ allegations and the ‘former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook’s perjury coaching obstruction’ allegations currently being investigated by the High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Division (PCC), as well as the recently surfaced ‘Yoon Seok-yeol X-file’ following complaints from civic groups.

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