Ministry of Justice: Will the Wave of Change Blow with 'Deprosecutorization and Minbyun Code Personnel'?

Former Minbyun Member Occupies Key Ministry of Justice Positions... Prosecutor Appointments Likely to Fill Posts Again
Up to 48 Chief Prosecutors Possible... Concerns Over 'Expansion' Raised

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Ministry of Justice's personnel policy emphasizing 'de-prosecutorization and prioritizing Minbyun (Lawyers for a Democratic Society)' appears to be coming to an end after five years.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Moon Jae-in administration converted key director and division chief positions in the Ministry of Justice into externally open positions to curb the prosecutorization of the Ministry and appointed many individuals from Minbyun to these posts.

Former and current Ministers of Justice, including Cho Kuk, Choo Mi-ae, and Park Beom-gye, were all appointed from academia or politics. Most senior officials such as the Vice Minister of Justice were also filled by non-prosecutors. Currently, except for Joo Young-hwan, Chief of the Policy Office, and Koo Ja-hyun, Director of the Prosecution Bureau, Vice Minister Kang Sung-guk, Legal Affairs Director Lee Sang-gap, Crime Prevention Policy Bureau Director Yoon Woong-jang, Human Rights Bureau Director Wi Eun-jin, and Immigration Headquarters Director Lee Jae-yu are lawyers or civil service examination passers.

Minbyun-affiliated figures include former Legal Affairs Director and Vice Minister Lee Yong-gu, former Human Rights Bureau Director Hwang Hee-seok, former Immigration and Foreigners Headquarters Director Cha Gyu-geun (currently a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute), former Human Rights Bureau Director Lee Sang-gap (currently Legal Affairs Director), and Human Rights Bureau Director Wi Eun-jin.

During the Park Geun-hye administration, most of the Ministry of Justice's top leadership, including the Vice Minister, Planning and Coordination Office Director, Legal Affairs Director, Prosecution Bureau Director, Crime Prevention Policy Bureau Director, Human Rights Bureau Director, and Immigration Headquarters Director, were filled by prosecutors at the chief prosecutor level.

Within the Ministry of Justice, the large-scale appointment of Minbyun-affiliated personnel has drawn criticism as 'Minbyun-ization of the Ministry of Justice.' There have been remarks that these appointees struggled to adapt to the existing Ministry system and that their work capabilities were somewhat inferior to those of prosecutors.

A lawyer with experience working at the Ministry of Justice said, "Only the top aces among prosecutors come to the Ministry, so their work capabilities are outstanding, but the executives who are supposed to lead them are not at the same level, making it difficult to endure. Prosecutors dispatched to other ministries are highly evaluated for their work, and (civil servants in other ministries) prefer to work with prosecutors, so I question whether de-prosecutorization is really necessary within the Ministry of Justice."

If the Yoon Suk-yeol administration changes the Ministry of Justice's de-prosecutorization policy, the number of chief prosecutor positions is expected to increase significantly. Currently, there are 44 chief prosecutor-level positions, but if senior Ministry officials are also filled by chief prosecutors, the number could rise to as many as 48.

A legal community official said, "If the number of chief prosecutor positions increases, it could partially resolve personnel stagnation," but added, "If only the number of chief prosecutors at the vice minister level increases, the prosecutorization of the Ministry of Justice will be repeated, and public opinion may again turn against the prosecutors for expanding their ranks."

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