Unprecedented Power of the Ministry of Justice, June: The Month of Capability Verification

Personnel Information Management Unit to Launch on the 7th of Next Month... Inspection Completion TF Also Activated
Possibility of Prosecutor Mid-Level Personnel Changes on the 3rd... "Massive Authority" Faces Checks from Opposition and Police

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is performing the national ceremony at the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 31st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Ministry of Justice under Han Dong-hoon, regarded as the most powerful government ministry in history, will begin full-scale operations of its key tasks starting in June.

Within June, it is expected to establish the foundation to exercise various authorities, reorganize the organization, and proceed with planned actions. This includes personnel verification of public office candidates as well as the second prosecution personnel reshuffle since Minister Han’s inauguration. As the authority and organization have expanded significantly, concerns from various sectors continue to arise. There is also an analysis that June must become a “month of opportunity” to verify fairness and capability.

The Cabinet meeting held on the morning of the 31st served as a signal flare. At the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Complex Sejong that morning, the government approved partial amendments to the “Organization of the Ministry of Justice and its Affiliated Agencies” and the “Regulations on the Collection and Management of Information on Public Office Candidates.” The amendment mainly establishes a Personnel Information Management Unit directly under the Minister of Justice to handle personnel verification of public office candidates. With the passage of this amendment at the Cabinet meeting, the launch of the Personnel Information Management Unit was officially confirmed. The unit will be launched and begin operations on the 7th of next month after the official gazette publication is completed.

The organizational structure is virtually finalized. It has been outlined to consist of a total of 20 members, including the head. The variable is who will be appointed as the head of the management unit. It is reported that a non-prosecutor will be appointed. There are also expectations that the head will be selected from individuals who previously worked in the Office of the Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs or from the Board of Audit and Inspection.

Personnel verification was originally the responsibility of the Blue House’s Office of the Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs. However, with the abolition of that office under the new government, this task was transferred to the Ministry of Justice. Minister Han said, “This is a meaningful advancement in which the secretive tasks of political power have been transformed into routine work monitored by career civil servants (‘Neulgong’). We will appoint a career civil servant who has been dedicated to personnel and verification work as the person in charge.”

The task force (TF) responding to the so-called “Complete Removal of Prosecution’s Investigation Authority” law, which will be implemented from September, began activities on the 30th. The TF members, divided into two teams?Legal System Improvement and Constitutional Issues Research?are currently identifying constitutional issues related to the law and examining whether to file jurisdictional disputes or constitutional complaints. They plan to cooperate with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, which is operating a TF of the same nature. The Legal System Improvement TF is led by Yoon Won-gi, Chief Prosecutor of Chuncheon District Prosecutors’ Office (age 43, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 34), and the Constitutional Issues Research TF is led by Kim Seok-woo, Prosecutor at Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office (age 50, class 27).

In the legal community, it is expected that a mid-level prosecution personnel reshuffle will take place around the 3rd of next month. This is anticipated to complete investigations of important cases before September, when investigation authority will be stripped according to amendments to the Prosecutors’ Office Act and the Criminal Procedure Act. Minister Han conducted a high-level personnel reshuffle immediately after his inauguration but has not yet replaced mid-level personnel responsible for practical work. The opposition party is pushing to check the Ministry of Justice, and civic groups are advocating for prosecution reform. Lee Tan-hee, a Democratic Party lawmaker and former judge, described the current Ministry of Justice as a “monster” and “Central Intelligence Ministry of Justice,” and said she would propose a bill to prevent the Ministry of Justice’s overreach. The police have started investigating the “allegation of ghostwriting” of Minister Han’s eldest daughter’s thesis.

On the previous day, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy held a press briefing for the publication of the “Comprehensive Report on Five Years of the Moon Jae-in Government’s Prosecution - Drifting Prosecution Reform and the Coming Prosecution Republic,” analyzing that “the Moon Jae-in government, which advocated prosecution reform, instead actively utilized special prosecution investigations under the banner of ‘investigating deep-rooted evils,’ politicizing the prosecution.” They added, “President Yoon Suk-yeol has filled the Presidential Secretariat with former prosecution investigators and prosecutors and appointed Han Dong-hoon, a former chief prosecutor, as Minister of Justice. It is necessary to monitor not only the prosecution organization but also whether the president is using investigation and prosecution for governance.”

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