[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Ministry of Justice carried out personnel changes on the 25th involving some prosecutors at the senior prosecutor level (deputy and chief prosecutors) and ordinary prosecutors.
On the morning of the same day, the Ministry of Justice implemented new appointments and transfers for 42 senior prosecutors and 568 ordinary prosecutors, effective from the 7th of next month.
The investigation team handling cases related to presidential candidates, which attracted the most attention, was only minimally changed.
Kim Tae-hoon, head of the dedicated investigation team for the Daejang-dong case involving Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, who serves as the 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, was retained. Yoo Jin-seung, head of the Crime Proceeds Recovery Division, was appointed as the head of the Economic Crime Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which forms the core of the investigation team. Choi Dae-gun, head of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Trial Division, was appointed as the new head of the Crime Proceeds Recovery Division. After former head Yoo Kyung-pil of the Economic Crime Division was excluded from the investigation following the "split dining" controversy, Jeong Yong-hwan, head of the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division 1, who was brought in, was also retained.
Some prosecutors belonging to the Economic Crime Division and the Crime Proceeds Recovery Division were also replaced. Kim Jong-hyun, head prosecutor of the Public Investigation Division at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, who is investigating allegations of Lee Jae-myung’s lawyer fee payments, was retained.
Kim Kyung-geun, head of the Public Investigation Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is investigating the case in which the Democratic Party’s presidential campaign committee accused Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, of refusing a search of Shincheonji based on advice from a shaman during his tenure as Prosecutor General, was also retained.
Cho Joo-yeon, head of the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is investigating allegations of stock price manipulation of Deutsch Motors and sponsorship suspicions involving Kobana Contents related to Yoon candidate’s wife Kim Gun-hee, was retained, although four prosecutors in her division were replaced.
Lee Kyu-won, deputy chief prosecutor at the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office who was dispatched to the Fair Trade Commission, will be transferred to the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office. Lee is currently on trial for charges related to the illegal overseas transfer of Kim Hak-eui and the falsification and leakage of a meeting report with Yoon Joong-chun, and recently received a six-month suspension as a severe disciplinary action decided by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Committee.
Gu Seung-mo, professor at the Jincheon Headquarters of the Legal Research and Training Institute, was appointed as the head of the newly established Namyangju Branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office, which will open in March. Lee Chan-gyu, head of the Criminal Division 5 at the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office, was appointed as head of Criminal Division 1 at the Namyangju Branch, and Son Jeong-sook, deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, was appointed as head of Criminal Division 2. Additionally, Park Jong-min, deputy chief prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, was appointed as head of Criminal Division 3 at the also newly established Pyeongtaek Branch.
At the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, newly established advisory bodies on major disasters will include prosecutors Oh Jae-jun from the Daegu Western District Prosecutors' Office and Moon Jae-woong from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who were transferred to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office and Seongnam Branch, respectively, and will work as prosecutors’ research officers at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in a dispatched capacity.
The vacant deputy chief prosecutor positions at the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office and Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office were not filled.
Before this personnel reshuffle, Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye stated that he would appoint external experts with specialization in major disaster cases as chief prosecutors and proceeded with a recruitment process, but the plan was withdrawn due to strong opposition within the prosecution and objections from Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo.
The Ministry of Justice stated on the 21st that, in accordance with the decision of the Prosecutor Review Committee, personnel changes for senior prosecutors were minimized to filling newly created positions due to this year’s organizational restructuring, vacancies due to resignations, and replacing prosecutors dispatched to external agencies.
This is interpreted as a measure taken out of concern that large-scale personnel changes during the sensitive period approaching the end of the presidential term and the upcoming presidential election could cause unnecessary controversy.
Regarding ordinary prosecutors, the Ministry stated that it maintained personnel policies favoring prosecutors who have dedicated themselves to work directly related to public welfare, such as human rights protection, criminal investigations, and trials, based on principles of "trend exchange" and "regional distribution by local prosecutor’s office jurisdiction."
It also applied long-term service systems for childbirth and childcare purposes and long-term service within the same high prosecutor’s office jurisdiction as much as possible, and reflected hardships due to illness, childbirth, and childcare to the greatest extent in personnel decisions.
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