New Prosecutor General Candidates Announced Today... Focus on Whether 'Lee Seong-yoon' Is Included

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The selection process for candidates to succeed former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol will take place on the 29th. It has been 57 days since Yoon resigned, and the biggest point of interest is whether Lee Seong-yoon, the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, will be included in the candidate pool. The results of the meeting are expected to be announced in the afternoon.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee (Recommendation Committee) will hold a meeting from 10 a.m. at the Government Complex Gwacheon to select the pool of candidates for the Prosecutor General.

The meeting will be chaired by former Minister of Justice Park Sang-ki, the committee chair, and will include nine members: Kim Hyung-doo, Deputy Director of the Court Administration Office; Lee Jong-yeop, President of the Korean Bar Association; Han Ki-jung, Chairman of the Council of Law Schools; Jung Young-hwan, President of the Korean Law Professors Association; Lee Jeong-su, Director of the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecution Bureau; Gil Tae-gi, former Deputy Minister of Justice; Won Hye-wook, Vice President of Inha University; and Ahn Jin, Professor at Chonnam National University Law School.

Earlier, on the 26th, the Ministry of Justice delivered a list of candidates to the committee. The list includes Lee, who is under investigation by the prosecution for allegedly exerting external pressure on the investigation into the illegal travel ban case involving former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui; Cho Nam-gwan, Acting Prosecutor General; Koo Bon-seon, Chief Prosecutor of Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office; Yang Bu-nam, former Chief Prosecutor of Busan High Prosecutors' Office; and Bae Seong-beom, Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, all of whom were recommended during the public nomination period in March. Also included are Im Eun-jung, a researcher who clashed with former Prosecutor General Yoon over the Han Myeong-sook perjury suspicion case, and Han Dong-hoon, a close associate of Yoon.

On the day, the recommendation committee members will narrow down the list to at least three candidates and recommend them to Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye. Afterward, Minister Park will propose one final candidate, who will be appointed by President Moon Jae-in. Considering the subsequent confirmation hearing process, the new Prosecutor General is expected to begin their term in late May or early June.

Opinions are divided. The legal community expects that the candidate selection will heavily reflect the intentions of the Blue House and the ruling party. Within the ruling party, opinions vary on Lee: some view him as the right person to fulfill the national agenda of prosecutorial reform, while others see him as a burden due to the crushing defeat in the April 7 by-elections and the decline in government and party approval ratings. As alternatives, some are paying attention to former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Oh-soo and former Chief Prosecutor Yang of Busan High Prosecutors' Office.

If Lee is selected as the final candidate for Prosecutor General, controversy is inevitable. Concerns are growing over the unprecedented possibility of a 'suspect Prosecutor General' in constitutional history, and if indicted, a 'defendant Prosecutor General.' Lee is also scheduled to face a prosecution review committee regarding the 'Kim Hak-ui illegal travel ban case.' The review committee is likely to convene after the recommendation committee meeting.

Meanwhile, Minister Park stated on the 23rd that the criteria for selecting the next Prosecutor General would be "highly correlated with the President's national governance philosophy."