Prosecutor's Office Appoints Hwang Sang-jin, Former Korea Times Editorial Director, as Spokesperson Seven Months After Launch

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Hwang Sang-jin, former editorial board chief of Hankook Ilbo, has been appointed as the first spokesperson of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (Gongsoocheo). This comes seven months after the agency's launch.

On the morning of the 9th, Hwang received his appointment letter at the Gongsoocheo spokesperson office and began his duties. His term is three years.

Spokesperson Hwang graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in Journalism and Broadcasting. He joined Hankook Ilbo in 1989 and served as head of the social affairs department, head of the digital strategy headquarters, and head of the future strategy office before becoming editor-in-chief in 2016. Since December 2017, he worked as the editorial board chief. He is known for emphasizing the political neutrality of Gongsoocheo in his regular columns under his own name. In his column dated May 2, he stated, "Prosecutorial reform is an irreversible task," and argued that "the establishment of Gongsoocheo and the National Investigation Headquarters is an institutional reform achievement aimed at dispersing and checking prosecutorial power."

After its launch, Gongsoocheo immediately sought a spokesperson but was unable to find a suitable candidate, leaving the position vacant. Moon Sang-ho, a former Ministry of Strategy and Finance official and Gongsoocheo policy planning officer, served as acting spokesperson. After the first recruitment ended in March with no successful candidates, Gongsoocheo announced in early May that it would re-advertise the position, adding "experience working as a social affairs reporter at a media company" as a preferred qualification, ultimately selecting Spokesperson Hwang.

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