Ministry of Justice to Accelerate Prosecutor General Candidate Selection... Final Candidates May Emerge Within Two Weeks

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The selection process for the next Prosecutor General is expected to resume in earnest starting this week. The Ministry of Justice is likely to finalize the list of candidates to be submitted to the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee. Consequently, the committee meeting could be held as early as the end of this week or the beginning of next week. Depending on the circumstances, the final candidate might be announced within this week.

According to the legal community on the 18th, the Ministry of Justice will actively narrow down the candidates to be submitted to the recommendation committee from those nominated by public recommendation this week.

On the 16th, Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, stated, "We have not yet compressed the list of individuals nominated by public recommendation," adding, "We will begin preparations to propose candidates to the President."

With the Blue House recently deciding on a new cabinet quickly, a foundation has been laid to accelerate the appointment of the Prosecutor General as well. Since the April 7 by-elections, the selection of the Prosecutor General had seemed to stall. Minister Park has expressed a cautious stance, saying, "There are many aspects to consider, and we need to proceed carefully," indicating a controlled pace.

However, attention is focused on whether the atmosphere will change starting this week. The process for appointing the Prosecutor General involves the Minister of Justice selecting suitable candidates from those nominated by public recommendation and submitting them to the Candidate Recommendation Committee. The committee then selects three candidates and recommends them back to the Minister of Justice. The Minister then chooses one candidate to nominate to the President as the final candidate.

In the legal community, the next Prosecutor General candidates include Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office; Cho Nam-gwan, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office; Yang Bu-nam, former Chief Prosecutor of the Busan High Prosecutors' Office; and Koo Bon-seon, Chief Prosecutor of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office.

However, the future of Chief Prosecutor Lee remains uncertain. Although he emerged as the most likely candidate, he has reportedly fallen out of favor after the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, investigating the illegal travel ban case involving former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, decided to indict him, leading to evaluations that he has distanced himself from the candidate pool.