Regardless of Personnel, 청 Investigation Continues... Prosecution Given Limited Time Sentence

Ten Days Left for the Existing Investigation Team
Some Chief Prosecutors Retained
Continuity Ensured After Deputy Chief Transfers
Lee Seong-yoon and Others Emphasize Restrained Prosecutorial Authority
Uncertainty Remains on How Far the Investigation Will Proceed

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Cho, Hyungmin Kim, Seungyoon Song] With the mid-level executive personnel changes announced by the Ministry of Justice on the 23rd, the relentless investigations targeting the "living power," i.e., the current administration, have now been given a ten-day deadline. Excluding the Lunar New Year holiday and weekends, only four days remain. The existing investigation teams must make maximum progress, such as indicting key suspects, within this period. However, since the newly appointed chief prosecutors emphasize "restrained investigations," the situation is far from easy. Ultimately, the final decision-maker on case handling, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, may have to make a direct decision. In that case, the conflict between the administration and the prosecution is expected to reach its peak.

The message of the personnel changes carried out by the Ministry of Justice on this day is clear: it can be summarized as "restrained exercise of prosecutorial power." This is why deputy chief prosecutors who adhered to the existing investigation practices were directly hit by the personnel reshuffle. They include Shin Bong-soo, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office 2nd Division, who handled the "Cheongwadae Ulsan mayoral election interference case," Song Kyung-ho, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office 3rd Division, who was in charge of the "Cho Kuk family corruption case," and Hong Seung-wook, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, who led the "Yoo Jae-soo investigation cover-up case." They were transferred without concluding their investigations.

However, some chief prosecutors, who are just below the deputy chief prosecutors, have been retained to some extent, ensuring continuity of the investigations. This move is also seen as a measure to avoid strengthening the frame of "administration interference in investigations" if they were all replaced. Ko Hyung-gon, Head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who investigated the Cho Kuk family corruption allegations, is the only one moving to the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office. Since this investigation has already resulted in the indictment of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, there is no concern about disruption at this stage.

Kim Tae-eun, Head of the Public Investigation Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is investigating the Ulsan mayoral election interference, and Lee Jung-seop, Head of the Criminal Division 6 at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, who is handling the Yoo Jae-soo case, will also remain to continue their investigations. In the legal community, the decision to retain the chief prosecutors of the ongoing Cheongwadae election interference case and the Yoo Jae-soo investigation has been immediately analyzed as "judging that investigation control is possible by replacing only the deputy chief prosecutors."

It is known that the newly appointed leadership, including Deputy Chief Prosecutor Shin, who have been confirmed for replacement, plan to continue investigations regardless of the personnel changes. In fact, on the morning of the personnel announcement day, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Shin summoned Park Ki-sung, former secretary to the Ulsan mayor, for questioning. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Song was reportedly busy until late the previous afternoon securing approval for the indictment of Choi Kang-wook, Cheongwadae's Secretary for Public Office Discipline. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Hong is said to still be pursuing the "higher-ups" who requested a favor for Yoo Jae-soo, former Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Busan. This investigative stance is expected to continue until the personnel changes take effect on the 3rd of next month.

However, it is uncertain how much progress the investigations can make. This is because their direct superiors, newly appointed Seoul Central District Prosecutor General Lee Seong-yoon and Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor General Ko Ki-young, have shown relatively lukewarm attitudes toward the investigations. Both were newly appointed through the recent high-level prosecutor personnel reshuffle and emphasized "restrained exercise of prosecutorial power" as their inaugural message. It is reported that they are currently clashing with the investigation teams over whether to indict former Secretary Choi Kang-wook and former Cheongwadae Civil Affairs Secretary Baek Won-woo, respectively.

Meanwhile, if the investigative leadership such as Deputy Chief Prosecutor Shin leaves without making significant progress, there is a high possibility that the investigations will lose momentum. Park Chan-ho, Chief Prosecutor of Jeju District Prosecutors' Office (former head of the Public Investigation Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office), and Han Dong-hoon, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Busan High Prosecutors' Office (former head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office), who have been overseeing these cases, were demoted to regional posts in the recent high-level personnel reshuffle. If even the mid-level leadership like Deputy Chief Prosecutor Shin departs, the investigations are bound to fizzle out.

Recently, there have been reports in the legal community that after the transfers of Chief Prosecutor Park and Deputy Chief Prosecutor Han, Prosecutor General Yoon has been directly overseeing these investigations. However, this command authority is effective only as long as there are deputy chief prosecutors. The current deputy chief prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, including Deputy Chief Prosecutor Song, previously worked closely with Prosecutor General Yoon during the "deep-rooted corruption investigations." They are the so-called last remaining "Yoon Seok-yeol faction." The reason Prosecutor General Yoon could directly command cases bypassing the Supreme Prosecutors' Office leadership was due to this background. Therefore, there is speculation that Prosecutor General Yoon may personally make decisions on case handling, such as indicting key suspects, during the remaining period.