Prosecutor General 'Public Recommendation' Ends Today... Who Will Be the First Prosecutor Chief of the Yoon Administration?

Precedents for Recommending Current High Prosecutors... Yeohwanseop, Kim Hugon, Lee Dubong, No Jungyeon, Lee Wonseok as Leading Candidates
Prosecutors Outside: Han Chansik, Bae Seongbeom, Koo Bonseon, Jo Namgwan... Final Candidate Expected to be Decided Next Week

Kim Hu-gon, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office; Noh Jeong-yeon, Chief Prosecutor of Busan High Prosecutors' Office; Lee Won-seok, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (from left). / Source = Asia Economy DB, Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The public recommendation process for the appointment of the first Prosecutor General under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration will conclude on the 19th. The first Prosecutor General of the current government will take on the important role of leading the response to the upcoming enforcement of the "Criminal Procedure Act Amendment" (검수완박법) in September and the investigation of allegations of misconduct in the previous administration, drawing significant attention. Since the prosecution's policies and investigation directions change according to the Prosecutor General's leadership, the legal community widely agrees that a candidate fitting the current government's stance will be selected.

The Ministry of Justice will accept public recommendation letters for Prosecutor General candidates until 6 p.m. on the same day and then proceed with the formal recommendation process. After confirming the consent for verification from the recommended individuals, the Ministry will forward the list to the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee (Recommendation Committee).

The Recommendation Committee will review the candidates' qualifications and narrow down the list to at least three times the number of final candidates, then recommend them to Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon. Minister Han will propose one candidate to President Yoon Seok-yeol, who will then appoint the nominee following a National Assembly confirmation hearing.

Although the Recommendation Committee is expected to convene next week, due to the prolonged vacancy in the Prosecutor General position, the committee may convene as early as this week, with the final candidate possibly being decided next week.

Following the precedent of recommending senior prosecutors from within the prosecution, it is highly likely that all current senior prosecutors have been recommended as candidates for Prosecutor General. The current senior prosecutors include Yeo Hwan-seop, Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute (24th Judicial Research and Training Institute class), Kim Hu-gon, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office (25th class), Lee Ju-hyung, Chief Prosecutor of Suwon High Prosecutors' Office (25th class), Lee Du-bong, Chief Prosecutor of Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office (25th class), Choi Kyung-gyu, Chief Prosecutor of Daegu High Prosecutors' Office (25th class), Noh Jeong-yeon, Chief Prosecutor of Busan High Prosecutors' Office (25th class), Jo Jong-tae, Chief Prosecutor of Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office (25th class), and Lee Won-seok, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (27th class), totaling eight individuals.

Among them, the leading candidates for Prosecutor General are Director Yeo, Chief Prosecutor Kim, Chief Prosecutor Lee Du-bong, Chief Prosecutor Noh, and Deputy Prosecutor General Lee. Director Yeo is well-known for his special investigations, having indicted former lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk in 2012, former National Intelligence Service Director Won Sei-hoon in 2013, and led the investigation team for the Kim Hak-ui villa sexual bribery case in 2019. Director Yeo is not classified as part of the so-called "Yoon Seok-yeol line," making him a candidate who could avoid criticism of bias.

Like Director Yeo, Chief Prosecutor Kim is also not classified as part of the Yoon line. Kim, a former head of the Special Investigation Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, is known for his gentle personality and enjoys strong trust among prosecution members. Especially during the "Criminal Procedure Act Amendment" phase, he actively voiced opposition, solidifying the trust of the members toward him.

Chief Prosecutor Lee Du-bong is known for his meticulous work style and served as an aide to President Yoon when he was the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and Prosecutor General, classifying him as a figure who will promote investigations and policies aligned with the current government's stance.

Chief Prosecutor Noh is the first female senior prosecutor in history and is evaluated as someone who handles work with both gentleness and firmness. When she served as Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office in 2020, she indicted independent lawmaker Yoon Mi-hyang (then a member of the Democratic Party) on eight charges including embezzlement, breach of trust, and fraud over allegations of misusing funds donated to the Justice and Memory Foundation. She demonstrated strong leadership by removing the name of the deputy chief prosecutor in charge from the press release and inserting her own name to clearly indicate her responsibility for the investigation.

Deputy Prosecutor General Lee is currently acting as the Prosecutor General and is leading efforts to normalize the previously abnormal organization, earning high marks as a candidate. Lee, who investigated the Park Geun-hye government’s state affairs manipulation case, is considered a leading investigator within the prosecution, having conducted a face-to-face interrogation of former President Park. Lee is praised as a suitable candidate to stably lead the organization, having extensive experience not only in investigations but also in planning and other prosecution duties.

External candidates from outside the prosecution include former Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor Chief Han Chan-sik (21st class), former Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute Bae Seong-beom (23rd class), former Chief Prosecutor of Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office Koo Bon-seon (23rd class), and former Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute Cho Nam-gwan (24th class).

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