[Profile] Park Beom-gye, New Minister of Justice Nominee... "Will Complete Prosecution Reform"

Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who has been nominated as the new Minister of Justice, is expressing his thoughts on being appointed as the Minister of Justice at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 30th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Park Beom-gye, the nominee for Minister of Justice (57), is a three-term lawmaker who previously served as a judge.

Born in Yeongdong, Chungbuk, Park passed the college equivalency exam and graduated from Yonsei University’s Department of Law before passing the 33rd Judicial Examination in 1991.

After completing the 23rd class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, he began his career as a judge at the Seoul Southern District Court in 1994.

During his time at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, Park served as editor-in-chief of the magazine "Judicial Training," published by the autonomous committee, where he had the opportunity to interview then-lawyer Roh Moo-hyun.

He later served as a judge at the Seoul District Court, Jeonju District Court, and Daejeon District Court before opening a law practice in Daejeon in 2002.

In 2002, he joined Roh Moo-hyun’s presidential campaign, served as a political affairs committee member of the Presidential Transition Committee the following year, and worked as the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs and Legal Affairs at the Blue House, where he built a close relationship with then-Chief Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Moon Jae-in.

Due to this connection, Park is regarded as a leading pro-Roh (pro-Roh Moo-hyun) and pro-Moon (pro-Moon Jae-in) figure within the ruling party.

After returning to his law practice in 2004, he was elected as a member of the 19th National Assembly in 2012 representing Daejeon Seo-eul district as a Democratic United Party candidate, marking the start of his full-fledged political career. He was subsequently re-elected as a member of the 20th National Assembly (Daejeon Seo-gu Gap) in 2016 and the 21st National Assembly (Daejeon Seo-gu Eul) in 2020.

He served as a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea in 2017 and was a member of the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Judicial Reform in 2018.

Immediately after Park’s nomination was announced, the Blue House stated, "Based on his insights and legal expertise accumulated through his work in the judiciary, government, and legislature, as well as his strong will and reform mindset, we expect him to complete prosecution and justice reforms and realize a fair society centered on human rights and the livelihood of the people."

Following the announcement of his nomination as Minister of Justice, Park told reporters at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building, "I will listen to the voices of the people and complete prosecution reform."

He said, "President Moon Jae-in said that the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution should have a stable cooperative relationship and achieve prosecution reform through that," but when asked about his relationship with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, he avoided a direct answer, saying, "I will speak about that later."