[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 3rd, President Moon Jae-in nominated Kim Oh-soo (58, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 20), former Deputy Minister of Justice, as the new candidate for Prosecutor General.
Before being nominated as the candidate for Prosecutor General, Kim had already been listed as a candidate for many key positions.
Positions such as Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, and Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. He was also a final candidate during the appointment of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl. Some legal circles refer to him as a "multiple award winner" because of this.
Park Kyung-mi, spokesperson for the Blue House, compared this to a filmmaker being nominated for the global film awards, the "American Academy Awards," saying, "(Former Deputy Minister Kim) might be the candidate with the most nominations. I think this is proof that he has capabilities in various fields."
The fact that he has been nominated for public office multiple times is interpreted as the government having closely monitored him for a long time as a candidate who shares the "state administration philosophy."
In fact, Kim served as Deputy Minister of Justice from the time of former Minister Park Sang-ki in 2018 until early last year under former Minister Choo Mi-ae. Because of this background, he is evaluated as having a high understanding of prosecutorial reform, a key task of the Moon Jae-in administration.
In legal circles, as Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye said, there is an evaluation that "the state administration philosophy became the decisive criterion for selecting the final candidate." Earlier, on the 23rd of last month, Minister Park caused controversy by saying, "The appointment of the next Prosecutor General is highly correlated with the president's state administration philosophy."
However, from another perspective, he cannot avoid the stigma of being an "unqualified candidate" who ultimately failed to reach any key position. Attention is focused on whether Kim can wash away this stigma by ultimately becoming the new Prosecutor General.
To become Prosecutor General, he must pass the National Assembly confirmation hearing. If new and serious controversies arise, his future, which seems to have passed the 90% mark toward becoming Prosecutor General, cannot be guaranteed.
After being nominated on this day, Kim said, "I feel a heavy responsibility being nominated as the candidate for Prosecutor General during difficult and challenging times," and added, "I will do my best to prepare for the confirmation hearing with a humble heart."
It is known that Kim's confirmation hearing preparation office will be set up at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office. Kim is three classes senior to his predecessor, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl. This is the first time a candidate senior in class to the former Prosecutor General has been nominated.
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