Ministry of Justice Conducts Personnel Changes for 542 Prosecutors... Minor Replacements in Wolseong Investigation Team (Comprehensive)

Optimus and Lime Investigation Teams Maintained... Upcoming Senior Personnel Appointments Likely Managed by Nominee Park Beom-gye

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Before stepping down from her position, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae carried out her final personnel reshuffle in the prosecution. Two members of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office nuclear power plant investigation team were replaced, but changes to other key investigation teams were minimized. The Optimus investigation team and Lime investigation team were maintained, and Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won, who gained attention due to the controversy over the illegal travel ban on former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, retained his dispatched position without relocation.

On the 21st, the Ministry of Justice announced personnel changes for 542 prosecutors, including 11 prosecutors at the high prosecutor level and 531 general prosecutors, effective February 1. The Ministry explained that this reshuffle considered personnel principles such as the principle of regional exchange, decentralized placement by local prosecutor's office jurisdiction, and restrictions on concentrated assignments in planning departments. In particular, evaluations and achievements from the field, such as outstanding prosecutors recommended by agency heads and exemplary prosecutors selected by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, were reflected in the personnel decisions.

Outstanding female prosecutors were also appointed to key positions in the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and external organizations. Those appointed include Kim Bong-kyung (40th class) from the Ministry of Justice's prosecution division, Kim Soo-min (37th class), a research prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Kim Ji-eon (36th class), a legal cooperation officer at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Netherlands.

The Ministry of Justice broadly applied legislated personnel systems such as the long-term service system for childbirth and childcare, the long-term service system within the same high prosecutor jurisdiction, and the long-term service system for key prosecutor's offices. Even in cases not covered by these systems, personnel preferences for specific locations due to illness or childcare were actively reflected, according to the Ministry.

The new prosecutor selection system was also improved. Previously, the selection process for new prosecutors took nearly six months from mid-July to early December during the academic semester, which was criticized for overlapping with law school administrative periods and burdening applicants. The Ministry simplified the four-stage competency evaluation to two stages and advanced the application period to late May.

Additionally, prosecutors with experience and expertise in specialized roles such as certified specialist prosecutors were actively appointed. Notably, extensions of service periods were approved for five prosecutors assigned to key prosecutor's offices, including one at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, a 'cybercrime-focused prosecutor's office,' and one at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office, a 'food and drug-focused prosecutor's office.'

Specifically, changes were made to the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office nuclear power plant investigation team handling the 'alleged manipulation of the economic feasibility evaluation of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1.' Prosecutor Kim Hyung-won and Prosecutor Kim Soo-min, close aides of team leader Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-hyun, were transferred to the Seongnam branch and Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office, respectively. Prosecutor Kim Hyung-won, a certified specialist in international criminal law, is set to be dispatched to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna.

Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won, who was involved in the procedural illegality controversy during the travel ban on former Deputy Minister Kim Hak-ui, was dispatched to the Fair Trade Commission in September last year and was not included in this personnel reshuffle.

The Optimus and Lime investigation teams will maintain their current structures. The Economic Crime Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, which are handling the Optimus and Lime cases respectively, will keep their investigative personnel intact. However, there is a possibility of leadership changes in upcoming senior personnel reshuffles.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Special Trial Team 2 is experiencing significant changes. Five out of eight prosecutors in the team are being transferred. This team was newly formed last year to conduct additional investigations and maintain prosecutions related to the 'Samsung merger allegations' involving Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

Additionally, Prosecutor Cheon Jae-in of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who was dispatched to the Channel A case investigation team and reportedly raised objections to the investigation direction, is being transferred to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. Prosecutor Jang Tae-hyung, who went to the scene of the seizure of mobile phone SIM cards of Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon along with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office and testified about the situation to the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department, is moving to the Ansan branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. Prosecutors Cheon and Jang were transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in 2018 and are now included in this transfer.

A Ministry of Justice official stated, "We have balanced the placement of outstanding prosecutors who have worked at the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office across prosecutor's offices nationwide to strengthen the operational capabilities of frontline offices. The timing of the placement of new prosecutors, who undergo training after appointment, was also adjusted from early March to the first half of February's regular personnel reshuffle to increase the actual working personnel at each office."