At the End of This Month, 'High Prosecutor and Chief Prosecutor Personnel Changes'... Promotion Prospects for Gu Sang-yeop, Park Ki-dong, Seong Sang-heon, Lee Chang-soo, and Others

Candidates for Promotion to Chief Prosecutor of Training Institute 29th and 30th Classes
Weight on Retaining Song Kyung-ho as Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office

The Ministry of Justice is expected to carry out promotions and transfers for senior prosecutors at the level of chief prosecutors and prosecutors general as early as the end of this month, drawing attention to personnel changes in the leadership of major ongoing investigations.

Seoul Seocho-dong Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

On the 16th, there was a prevailing view inside and outside the prosecution that the Prosecutor Personnel Committee would convene next week and announce promotions and transfers to take effect in the last week of this month.

The key point of interest in this personnel reshuffle will be who will be appointed to lead the major ongoing investigations that are rapidly progressing. In particular, political circles and the business community are focusing on the appointments of the chiefs of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, and Suwon District Prosecutors' Office.

Central District Prosecutors’ Office Baekhyeon-dong and Money Envelope Allegations, Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office North Korea Remittance Investigation

The Anti-Corruption Divisions 1 to 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office are investigating allegations related to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and the Democratic Party’s money envelope distribution allegations, cases that have attracted significant public attention. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is preparing to summon Lee for questioning regarding the Baekhyeon-dong development corruption and preferential treatment allegations. After the investigation, the team is expected to decide whether to request an arrest warrant and conclude the investigation. The money envelope distribution investigation has not yet completed the summons of Song Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Party and the central figure in the allegations, so it is expected to take some more time. Considering the prosecution’s maintenance of charges against Lee and the pace of the money envelope investigation, it is widely expected that Song Kyung-ho, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, will remain in his position.

The investigation into the ‘illegal remittance to North Korea’ allegations at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office has recently gained momentum due to a change of heart by Lee Hwa-young, former Peace Deputy Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who is a key figure in the allegations. The prosecution suspects that Lee Jae-myung was informed in advance by the former deputy governor about the illegal remittance to North Korea by the Ssangbangwool Group. The investigation into the North Korea remittance allegations cannot be concluded without confirming Lee’s involvement. However, given the recent change of heart by the former deputy governor and the remaining investigative tasks, there is a possibility that the leadership may be replaced to revitalize the atmosphere.

There is also interest in whether the chief of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, who oversees investigations related to financial and securities crimes and virtual currencies, will be replaced in this personnel reshuffle. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office recently formalized the Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Unit, which was previously an unofficial organization, into an official department through a reorganization. Last month, the Virtual Asset Crime Joint Investigation Unit was also launched, making the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office a major prosecution office comparable in scale and investigative capacity to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. In particular, the financial sector is keenly watching whether the chief of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office will be replaced and, if so, who will be appointed as the successor.

Focus on Judicial Research and Training Institute Classes 29 and 30 for ‘Prosecutor General Promotions’

In this personnel reshuffle, members of the Judicial Research and Training Institute classes 29 and 30 are the main candidates for promotion to prosecutor general. If all five currently vacant chief prosecutor positions are filled, about 8 to 10 prosecutors are expected to be promoted to prosecutor general. From class 29, Park Se-hyun, head of the Criminal Division at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office; Son Jun-sung, head of the Litigation Division at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office; Park Ji-young, head of the Trial Division at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office; and Choi Ho-young, head of the Inspection Division at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, are likely to be the last to be promoted to prosecutor general. In particular, attention is focused on whether Park, who had consistently been a frontrunner in his class but was passed over for promotion during the tenure of former Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief Lee Sung-yoon when he was in charge of public relations, will be promoted. Son faces the variable of the ongoing trial related to the ‘accusation order allegations.’

From class 30, the top candidates for promotion to prosecutor general include Gu Sang-yeop, first deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and an expert in fair trade within the prosecution; Lee Chang-soo, chief of the Seongnam Branch Office and former spokesperson for the Supreme Prosecutors' Office when President Yoon Seok-yeol was Prosecutor General; Park Ki-dong, third deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office who was dispatched to the current administration’s Presidential Transition Committee; and Seong Sang-heon, first deputy chief prosecutor of the Central District Prosecutors' Office who led the investigation into the Moon Jae-in administration’s Ministry of Industry blacklist allegations. Additionally, names circulating as candidates include Jeong Yu-mi, chief of the Cheonan Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, who consistently voiced criticism on the prosecution’s internal network during the previous government’s prosecution reform; Byun Pil-geon, deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office, who repeatedly reported to the leadership the decision to dismiss charges against Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, then a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, in connection with the ‘Channel A case’; Yang Dong-hoon, deputy chief prosecutor of the Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office, who indicted Lee Jae-myung, former governor of Gyeonggi Province, on charges of ‘forcible hospitalization of his elder brother’; and Cho Dae-ho, first deputy chief prosecutor of the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office, who uncovered a 2 trillion won gold smuggling organization.

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