Yoon Appoints Former High Prosecutor Park Seong-jae as New Minister of Justice Candidate

Director Lee Gwansub "Demonstrates Competence in Various Legal and Prosecutorial Fields"

President Yoon Suk-yeol nominated former Seoul High Prosecutor Park Seong-jae as the Minister of Justice candidate on the 23rd. This comes about a month after Han Dong-hoon, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, resigned from the position of Minister of Justice.

Lee Gwan-seop, Chief of Staff to the President, held a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon and announced that President Yoon had nominated Park as the candidate.

Park, who hails from Cheongdo, Gyeongbuk, graduated from Korea University with a degree in law and passed the 27th Judicial Examination. As a member of the 17th Judicial Research and Training Institute, Park served in key positions such as Head of Inspection Division 2 at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Head of the Financial and Tax Investigation Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and Inspection Officer at the Ministry of Justice, before serving as Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and Seoul High Prosecutors' Office.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Additionally, Park has had a connection with President Yoon since Yoon's early days as a prosecutor. When Yoon worked at the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office from 1994 to 1996, Park worked in an adjacent department. Notably, when President Yoon was demoted to Daegu High Prosecutors' Office as a prosecutor in 2013 while investigating the National Intelligence Service's online comment manipulation case, Park was the direct superior as the Chief Prosecutor of the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office.

Chief of Staff Lee evaluated Park by saying, "After completing his military service as a military legal officer, he was appointed as a prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office in 1991 and demonstrated his capabilities in various legal and prosecutorial fields such as finance, special investigations, and inspections."

He continued, "After serving as Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, he left public office in 2017 and worked as a lawyer. Throughout his public service career, he has been reputed for his strict character and strong sense of responsibility, handling tasks with steadfastness based on principles," and emphasized, "We judged him to be the right person to carry on the criminal justice reform promoted by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and to implement constitutional values in legal administration."

Park also expressed, "While I am personally greatly honored to receive this nomination, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility," and added, "If appointed, I will do my best to ensure fair law enforcement trusted by the people, public safety, and protection of human rights."

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