Daegum, First Certification of Three Level 1 Certified Professional Investigators... Including Experts on Major Accident Cases

Yoon Jae-nam, investigator at Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office; Kim Jin-ok, investigator at Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office; Kang Jeong-gi, investigator at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (from left). / Photo by Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Supreme Prosecutors' Office has certified three investigators with the highest expertise in the fields of finance and securities, public investigation, and forensic investigation as Grade 1 Certified Specialist Investigators. This is the first time that Grade 1 Certified Specialist Investigators have been certified since the certification system was introduced in 2016.

On the 20th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held the 8th Certified Specialist Investigator Certification Review Committee and announced on the 24th that it had certified 3 Grade 1 Certified Specialist Investigators and 25 Grade 2 Certified Specialist Investigators.

The Grade 1 Certified Specialist Investigators certified include Yoon Jae-nam, Investigation Officer (Grade 5, Finance and Securities) of the Financial Securities Crime Investigation Division at Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office; Kim Jin-ok, Investigator (Grade 6, Public Investigation) of the Criminal Division 5 at Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office; and Kang Jeong-gi, Investigator (Grade 6, Forensic Investigation) of the Forensic Science Investigation Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

Investigation Officer Yoon played a key role in numerous finance and securities cases, including no-capital mergers and acquisitions (M&A) related to listed companies, market manipulation, unfair trading, insider trading, Byte Token, and Coinzest cryptocurrency cases, having worked at the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the Financial Investigation Division of Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, and the Financial Securities Crime Investigation Cooperation Team of Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office. He has 11 years of experience in his specialized field.

Having received Grade 2 certification in the finance and securities field in April 2016, he was selected four times for outstanding cases in special investigations by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and has authored numerous papers and lectured extensively. In 2018, he also oversaw the writing of the finance and securities section of the "Prosecutor's Investigation Guide."

Investigator Kim demonstrated excellent investigative skills across public security investigations, including major accidents at large construction sites, industrial accident cover-ups, labor union-related cases involving large construction companies, various violations of the Public Official Election Act such as election interference, and mass distribution of subversive materials, while working at the Public Security Division of Changwon District Prosecutors' Office, the Public Investigation Division 2 of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and the Criminal Division 5 of Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office. He has 10 years of experience in his specialized field.

Kim received Grade 2 certification in the labor field in April 2016 and in the election field in January 2019. Holding multiple professional certifications such as Industrial Safety Engineer, Construction Safety Engineer, Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator (CFEI) in the U.S., and Disaster Safety Instructor, he was selected six times for outstanding public investigation cases by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. He also lectured on "Investigation Guidelines for Violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act" at the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency.

Investigator Kang was recognized for his expertise in "fire analysis" within the forensic investigation field. He has been actively involved, directly or indirectly, in nearly all fire-related cases handled by the prosecution, including arson and murder cases at current condition sites and arson cases for insurance claim purposes, according to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

Over the past five years, Kang has prepared 292 forensic reports. Additionally, he has demonstrated his expertise in fire and arson cases through 54 on-site inspections, 90 reenactment experiments, 30 court testimonies and evidence adoptions, and 19 investigative consultations.

He received Grade 2 certification in forensic investigation (fire analysis) in December 2016. With 12 years of experience in his specialized field, he was selected as an outstanding forensic examiner by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and was recognized eight times for outstanding forensic investigation cases.

Having completed a doctoral course in Fire Protection Engineering in February last year, he has published three research papers in Korea Citation Index (KCI) journals and participated three times in academic conferences of the Korean Fire Protection Association. He has also lectured at the Central Fire Academy on advanced fire investigation practices and case law analysis, at the Judicial Research and Training Institute on digital forensic investigation, and at various regional fire academies and the Department of Forensic Science at Sungkyunkwan University.

For the current review, 17 applicants applied across 12 fields for Grade 1 certification, with 3 being certified. For Grade 2, 91 applicants applied across 22 fields, with 25 certified across 15 fields. Among those certified as Grade 2 Certified Specialist Investigators, six were female investigators.

On the 20th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held the 8th Certified Specialist Investigator Certification Review Committee in a small conference room on the 15th floor, chaired by Choi Seong-pil, Head of the Forensic Investigation Department (Chief Prosecutor), with seven committee members in attendance.

The certification review process consists of three stages: preliminary evaluation by nine dedicated departments of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, re-evaluation by the certification management department, and deliberation by the certification review committee. Since the system's inception in April 2016 until January last year, seven certification reviews have been conducted, certifying a total of 443 investigators as Grade 2 Certified Specialist Investigators, including 31 female investigators.

Considering the status of the first Grade 1 Certified Specialist Investigators representing the prosecution's expertise, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office conducted an in-depth review comprehensively considering career, work performance, specialized knowledge, and character, and unanimously certified Yoon and the other two investigators.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "We will continue to discover and support Certified Specialist Investigators to enhance the expertise of prosecution investigators and strive to become a trusted prosecution service."