[The Editors' Verdict] Principles of Prosecutorial Personnel Decisions

Seokjin Choi, Head of Legal Affairs Team (Manager)

“Prosecutors know exactly who ranks from first to tenth in each class. But one day, they suddenly placed the 50th-ranked person in the first position.”

This was a remark made recently by a legal insider in a private setting. It was made with former Seoul Central District Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon in mind, who was promoted to head of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in the recent personnel reshuffle of senior prosecutors at the level of chief prosecutors and above earlier this month.

He had not particularly stood out within the prosecution, but after President Moon Jae-in, a senior from his university with whom he had worked at the Blue House during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, took office, he rose not only through a simple promotion to chief prosecutor but also held all the top key positions within the prosecution, including head of the Criminal Affairs Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, head of the Anti-Corruption Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice, and chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, emerging as the ‘Crown Prince’ of the Moon administration’s prosecution. Although he was considered the ‘top candidate’ for Prosecutor General, he did not ascend to the position due to becoming a defendant on charges of ‘investigation interference’ in the ‘Kim Hak-ui illegal deportation’ case, but he demonstrated his continued influence by becoming the head of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, the direct superior institution of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the largest prosecution office in the country.

The fact that he is currently indicted on charges of abusing his authority to exert undue pressure on investigations, and that he lost internal trust after refusing the approval requests of many junior prosecutors to not prosecute Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon during his tenure as chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, did not become obstacles to his promotion. Negative evaluations of him, such as suppressing investigations into several cases burdensome to the administration or being a representative pro-government prosecutor, rather worked as positive factors in the personnel decisions.

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye is about to carry out a mid-level prosecutor personnel reshuffle. Already, rumors are circulating in prosecution circles that those who handled investigations related to the administration will be demoted. The Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, which investigated the ‘Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant economic feasibility manipulation’ allegations, and the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigation team that handled the ‘Kim Hak-ui illegal deportation’ case are representative examples. Minister Park recently posted an article on his Facebook about Lee Jeong-seop, head of the Criminal Division 3 at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and leader of the Kim Hak-ui deportation investigation team, mentioning ‘conflict of interest,’ which has been criticized as an attempt to justify replacing the team leader and dismantling the investigation team in this personnel reshuffle. Both cases are not ex officio investigations but started from investigation requests by the Board of Audit and Inspection and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, respectively. When complaints, accusations, or investigation requests are received, it is the prosecutor’s duty to investigate.

On the other hand, it is expected that many prosecutors classified as ‘pro-government,’ including Park Eun-jung, the Ministry of Justice’s inspection officer who last year acted as the right hand of former Minister Choo Mi-ae and led the excessive disciplinary request against former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, will be appointed to key positions.

As the saying goes, “Personnel is everything,” selecting good talent and placing them in the right positions is the most important task in any organization. The prosecution is especially sensitive to personnel matters.

While judicial exam scores or training institute grades can be one criterion to judge a person’s legal knowledge or diligence, what matters more is the actual performance shown while carrying out the duties of a prosecutor. Those recognized for their abilities through investigation results reflected in statistics, attitude toward cases, sense of justice, and evaluations from senior and junior prosecutors should be entrusted with important roles. Of course, various factors such as regional balance, prevention of concentration from specific schools, and gender are considered in prosecution personnel decisions. However, it is clear that ‘loyalty’ to the Blue House or Ministry of Justice should never be the top priority.

The minister’s personnel authority should be exercised with a focus on enabling the prosecution organization to operate more efficiently. In that sense, the personnel reshuffle last August by former Minister Choo, who filled the Supreme Prosecutors' Office executives?who should have been the Prosecutor General’s right hand?with pro-government prosecutors and promoted Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong, who was even indicted for ‘official violence’ during a search and seizure, to deputy chief prosecutor of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, can be evaluated as one of the worst personnel decisions in history that went against the government’s prosecution reform policy.

It is said that prosecutors no longer work as hard as before. Even if they work overtime to reduce the number of unsolved cases and improve investigation results to raise their personnel evaluations, they have learned that this does not necessarily lead to promotion. The sad reality is that avoiding politically sensitive investigations has become a virtue.

No matter how much prosecution reform is called for and systems are changed, if the message that ‘those loyal to the administration get promoted and those who offend the administration with investigations get demoted’ is repeatedly conveyed through personnel decisions, political neutrality of the prosecution will remain elusive. It is hoped that such a thing will not be repeated in this personnel reshuffle.