[Profile] Kim Jin-wook, Nominee for the First Chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials

Kim Jin-wook, a senior researcher at the Constitutional Court and the final candidate nominated for the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, is arriving at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 30th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Kim Jin-wook, the senior researcher at the Constitutional Court who has been nominated as the first Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (Hogoong), is from Daegu and graduated from Boseong High School and Seoul National University’s Department of Archaeology.

He was appointed as a judge in 1995 after graduating from the 21st Judicial Research and Training Institute, then opened his law practice in 1998 and worked as a lawyer at Kim & Chang Law Office until 2010. In 1999, he also participated as a special investigator in the special prosecutor team for the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation strike inducement case.

Since 2010, he has served as a constitutional researcher at the Constitutional Court, holding positions such as Chief Secretary to the President of the Constitutional Court, Senior Constitutional Researcher, and International Deliberation Officer. Inside and outside the legal community, he is regarded as having a gentle personality with a strong inner resolve.

After being recommended as the final candidate, Kim said in a media interview, "I guess the recommendation committee saw me as neutral because the Constitutional Court, where I have worked for a long time, is a politically unbiased and neutral institution."

However, a rough road is expected until the confirmation hearing and the launch of the Hogoong. Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the People Power Party, did not directly mention Kim in a previous media interview but said, "He has no experience running an organization or conducting investigations. Also, he applied for a key position in this administration but was not selected, which overlaps with the situation."

Kim is expected to face intense attacks from the conservative opposition party during the confirmation hearing. According to Article 2 of the Hogoong Act, the Hogoong investigates crimes committed by high-ranking officials including the President, Speaker of the National Assembly, members of the National Assembly, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, metropolitan government heads, judges, and prosecutors.

While the Hogoong has both investigative and prosecutorial authority, its prosecutorial targets are limited to high-ranking officials within the courts, prosecution, and police. Except for the sitting President, who is excluded, this differs from the current prosecution, which has comprehensive investigative and prosecutorial powers.

Additionally, on the morning of the same day, opposition party members including lawyer Lee Heon and professor Han Seok-hoon filed a main lawsuit at the Seoul Administrative Court against the Hogoong Chief Candidate Recommendation Committee (Chairman Jo Jae-yeon), requesting nullification of the resolution recommending two candidates, Kim Jin-wook and Lee Geon-ri, on the 28th, as well as a provisional injunction to suspend the effect of that resolution. They also plan to request a constitutional review of the amended Hogoong Act, which is the premise of the trial, once the court is designated.