Ministry of Justice Personnel Committee on 19th... Slight Promotion Changes Expected

On the 2nd, at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office New Year's meeting held in Seoul, Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok delivering the New Year's address.
[Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The personnel committee to discuss the criteria for regular prosecution personnel appointments will be held next week.

On the 11th, legal circles reported that the Ministry of Justice will hold a prosecution personnel committee meeting at 3 p.m. on the 19th to discuss the standards and principles of regular personnel appointments.

Attention is focused on the scale of promotions.

Currently, among the senior prosecutor positions, four seats are vacant: Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Seoul and Daejeon High Prosecutors' Offices chiefs, and Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute. Among the chief prosecutor-level positions, the posts of Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Justice, Deputy Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and Planning Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute are vacant.

Within the prosecution, since various ongoing investigations are being conducted simultaneously, the prevailing view is that promotions and transfers will be limited to a small scale to maintain organizational stability.

Currently, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is investigating the Daejang-dong development corruption case, the concealment of the 'West Sea shooting' incident, the forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen case, and the KH Group's Alpenzia Resort bid-rigging case. The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office is investigating allegations of lawyer fee payments on behalf of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, and the Seongnam Branch is probing the 'Seongnam FC illegal sponsorship fund' allegations.

Since these cases have not been concluded, it is expected that there will be minimal changes to the command and investigation lines to maintain investigative momentum.

Some speculate that personnel appointments will be finalized by filling the positions of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office chief, which has multiple jurisdictions, and Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Justice. The Deputy Prosecutor General position at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which has been vacant since Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok's inauguration, is also expected to remain vacant for the time being.

If promotions are limited, they are likely to be announced together with the appointments of regular prosecutors scheduled for the 6th of next month.

Most prosecutors in the special and public security divisions handling ongoing cases, who were appointed during last year's personnel changes, are expected to see little change.

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