[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Ministry of Justice abruptly canceled the Prosecutor Personnel Committee meeting originally scheduled for tomorrow.
According to the legal community on the 29th, the Ministry of Justice notified the committee members that the Prosecutor Personnel Committee meeting, which was scheduled to be held at 10 a.m. on the 30th at the Government Complex Gwacheon, has been canceled.
It is not yet known when the Prosecutor Personnel Committee will be held.
Accordingly, the promotion and transfer personnel appointments for senior prosecutors at the level of chief prosecutor and above, which were scheduled to take effect on the 3rd, are expected to be somewhat delayed.
The Ministry of Justice usually issued personnel orders on the day the Prosecutor Personnel Committee was held, or at the latest, the following day.
The reason behind the Ministry of Justice’s postponement of the Prosecutor Personnel Committee has not yet been confirmed. Attention is focused on whether the Ministry of Justice will coordinate opinions with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office ahead of this chief prosecutor personnel appointment, amid concerns over the controversy surrounding Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol being 'passed over.'
The biggest point of interest in this personnel appointment is whether Lee Seong-yoon, the chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, who has had conflicts with Prosecutor General Yoon, will be promoted.
Having worked as a prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office and promoted to chief prosecutor under the current administration, he has held key positions such as head of the Criminal Affairs Division and Anti-Corruption Division at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, and sequentially served as director of the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecutor’s Office, one of the top three positions in the prosecution, and chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
Therefore, it was expected that he, a leading candidate for the next Prosecutor General, would be promoted to high prosecutor in this personnel appointment. However, due to the aftermath of recent tangled cases such as the ‘media collusion’ case, the leak of the late Mayor Park Won-soon’s accusation, and the ‘investigation secret leak’ case that led to a KBS false report, there is also a possibility that he will remain in his current position.
Some suggest the possibility of keeping him in his current post while upgrading the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office chief prosecutor position to a high prosecutor level as before, but this is unlikely given the current administration’s policy to reduce the number of senior prosecutors.
Meanwhile, ahead of this personnel appointment, following the resignation of senior prosecutors who were seniors and peers of Prosecutor General Yoon from the first class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Cho Sang-jun of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office also submitted his resignation yesterday, increasing the number of vacancies at the chief prosecutor level and above to 11.
These include the chief prosecutors of Seoul and Busan High Prosecutors’ Offices, five deputy chief prosecutors of high prosecutors’ offices, chief prosecutors of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office and Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office, head of the Human Rights Division at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, and head of the Planning Division at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.
According to the policy to reduce the number of chief prosecutor positions, at least eight of these vacancies are expected to be filled, excluding some positions left vacant in the previous personnel appointment.
The chief prosecutor positions attracting the most attention are expected to be filled by about eight to nine prosecutors promoted from the 27th and 28th classes of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, with four from each class, and one from the 26th class and three from the 27th class.
The top candidates for promotion to chief prosecutor are Lee, the chief prosecutor mentioned above, along with Lee Jeong-hyun, first deputy chief prosecutor (27th class), Lee Geun-soo, second deputy chief prosecutor (28th class), Shin Seong-sik, third deputy chief prosecutor (27th class), and Kim Wook-jun, fourth deputy chief prosecutor (28th class), all of whom entered the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. However, like Lee, they face sensitive pending issues at the Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which is a variable.
Lee Moon-han, chief prosecutor of Goyang Branch Office (27th class), and Shin Ja-yong, chief prosecutor of Busan Eastern Branch Office (28th class), both alumni of Hanyang University’s Law Department along with Minister Chu, are also expected to be promoted.
Other strong candidates include Lee Jong-geun, first deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office (28th class), who was a policy advisor to former Minister Park Sang-ki and served as deputy head of the Prosecutorial Reform Promotion Support Group under former Minister Cho Kuk; Joo Young-hwan, chief prosecutor of Seongnam Branch Office (27th class), who investigated the savings bank corruption case and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering case; and Jeon Seong-won, chief prosecutor of Bucheon Branch Office (27th class), known for excellence in investigating economic crimes.
From the 26th class, Song Gyu-jong, a prosecutor from Goheung, Jeonnam, who served as the Ministry of Justice’s Inspection Officer and head of the Inspection Division at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office and is currently dispatched to the National Intelligence Service under the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, is mentioned as a promotion candidate.
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