Kim Jin-wook: "I hope many current and former prosecutors with extensive cognitive investigation experience apply to the Corruption Investigation Office"

"Prosecutor Recruitment, Not Just About Filling Quotas"
"Hope for Swift Appointment of Human Rights Inspector"

Kim Jin-wook, Chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter] Kim Jin-wook, Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HCIO), expressed his hope that many current prosecutors or former prosecutors with extensive experience in cognizance investigations or investigative supervision would apply for the ongoing public recruitment of HCIO deputy chief prosecutors and prosecutors.

On the 21st, Kim made these remarks during the first spokesperson briefing held at the HCIO press room in the Government Complex Gwacheon.

Kim said, "The HCIO is now in its second year since its launch, but recruiting personnel is still our main task." He added, "If you check the website, out of 56 notices, most are related to personnel recruitment."

He continued, "We have been recruiting continuously since February last year, but it is still not over, and we don't know when it will end. In short, I want to say that the HCIO is still an organization in the process of formation."

Kim also expressed regret over the delay in appointing the Human Rights Inspector, whose personnel verification process is currently underway at the Presidential Office.

He said, "The Human Rights Inspector position is currently vacant, and by around March, it was out of our hands. We are not the selecting body; the Ministry of Personnel Management is in charge, and the Presidential Office is conducting the verification." He added, "One thing I want to say is that I hope the Human Rights Inspector arrives as soon as possible."

He went on, "There have been criticisms related to human rights directed at the HCIO, haven't there? The person responsible for that work is the Inspector. I want to say that I hope they come as soon as possible so that the HCIO's human rights-related work can be further strengthened."

Kim explained that the reason the HCIO has not yet filled all prosecutor positions is because the focus was not merely on filling the quota but on selecting capable prosecutors.

He said, "When we announced the recruitment for HCIO prosecutors, the goal was not simply to fill the positions." He added, "If that were the case, when we recruited prosecutors in early February last year, with a competition rate of 10 to 1, we would have hired all 23 candidates. If recruitment was the goal."

He continued, "Since the goal was to select capable people who can deliver results, we only hired 13."

Kim said, "I am one of the seven members of the Personnel Committee, and according to Article 8 of the HCIO Act, the President appoints after the recommendation of the Personnel Committee." He added, "It was not just my personal opinion. Although the competition rate was 10 to 1, there was a consensus that it would be better to leave some positions vacant and fill them later rather than filling all with current applicants based on capability and other factors."

He continued, "We are still recruiting prosecutors and investigators, but the goal is not necessarily to fill all positions. The Personnel Committee will recommend those they agree upon, and this time as well, we will proceed according to that principle."

Kim also revealed his regret over the low number of applications from former prosecutors with rich investigative experience for the HCIO prosecutor recruitment.

He said, "We are currently recruiting two deputy chief prosecutors and one prosecutor who will handle investigative work, but the chief and deputy chief do not conduct investigations themselves; they only receive reports." He emphasized, "Ultimately, the deputy chief prosecutors and prosecutors are important."

Kim said, "Although I am only one of the seven Personnel Committee members, I would like to express my hope that many current prosecutors or former prosecutors apply."

He explained, "The first reason is that the investigations we conduct are not those transferred by the police but are cognizance investigations that we initiate from the beginning." He added, "Prosecutors have 70 years of special investigation experience in cognizance investigations, so they do it well. I hope many people with experience in cognizance investigations and supervisory experience in such investigations apply."

Kim said, "Another reason is that if you look at Article 3, Paragraph 1 of the HCIO Act, it specifies the investigation targets and jurisdiction. The first category includes high-ranking officials' crimes with investigative authority but no prosecution authority, and the second category includes judges, prosecutors, police officers of rank superintendent or higher, etc., with both investigative and prosecution authority." He added, "There are divided opinions: one is 'Why investigate cases without prosecution authority? Focus on cases with prosecution authority,' and the other is 'Historically, conduct fearless investigations on high-ranking officials, such as ministers and vice ministers.' Legally, both are to be handled."

He said, "Anyway, for the first category cases, which have investigative authority but no prosecution authority, even if we investigate, we have to send them to the prosecution. We can only request indictment, and the prosecution indicts." He added, "Cooperation with the prosecution is important. From the perspective of cooperation with the prosecution, I hope many current prosecutors or former prosecutors come to the HCIO and conduct investigations."

Kim analyzed that one reason for the low number of former prosecutors applying to the HCIO is the burden of investigating their former colleagues and revealed measures regarding this.

Kim said, "Personally, if these people come and say they do not want to investigate people with whom they had personal relationships at their former workplace, I think that can be considered in case assignments." He added, "We could implement a Chinese Wall, dividing departments so that one department only investigates certain areas, but even if not, when former prosecutors apply, one of the biggest obstacles is probably that. We can consider such aspects. That is what I want to say."

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