Yoon Team Key Positions Assigned... Lee Won-seok as Deputy Prosecutor General, Song Kyung-ho as Chief of Central District Prosecutors' Office

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol (left) is talking with Lee Won-seok, Director of the Planning and Coordination Office, about the materials requested by lawmakers after the morning questioning session of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held on the 17th at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Lee Won-seok, Chief Prosecutor of Jeju District Prosecutors' Office (age 53, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 27), has been appointed as Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to act as the Prosecutor General, a position currently vacant.

Song Kyung-ho, a prosecutor at Suwon High Prosecutors' Office (age 52, class 29), has been appointed as Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, while Shin Ja-yong, Head of the Litigation Department at Seoul High Prosecutors' Office (age 50, class 28), and Kwon Soon-jung, Chief of the Western Branch of Busan District Prosecutors' Office (age 48, class 29), will take charge of the Ministry of Justice's Prosecutor's Office and Planning and Coordination Office, respectively. All are figures known as the so-called 'Yoon Seok-yeol faction' and have been placed in key positions in this personnel reshuffle.

The Ministry of Justice carried out this high-ranking prosecutor personnel reshuffle effective from the 23rd, announced on the 18th.

The newly appointed Deputy Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok (at the level of High Prosecutor) is a representative special prosecutor within the prosecution who worked alongside President Yoon Seok-yeol and Minister Han Dong-hoon in the special investigation team for the Park Geun-hye administration's state affairs manipulation scandal. He was also the prosecutor who directly investigated former President Park Geun-hye at that time.

President Yoon served as the head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Planning and Coordination Department, a key aide during his tenure as Prosecutor General. Later, during former Minister Chu Mi-ae's term, he was demoted to Deputy Chief Prosecutor at Suwon High Prosecutors' Office but returned to a key position at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office after serving as Chief Prosecutor of Jeju District Prosecutors' Office. Since the Prosecutor General position is vacant, he will also act as the Prosecutor General for the time being.

Song Kyung-ho, the new Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, served as Head of Special Investigation Division 2 when President Yoon was Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and later as the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor overseeing special investigations at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in 2019 when President Yoon moved to the Prosecutor General position. He was demoted consecutively to Chief of Yeoju Branch of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and prosecutor at Suwon High Prosecutors' Office after leading the investigation into former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's family.

Shin Ja-yong, the Prosecutor General of the Ministry of Justice, will oversee prosecutor personnel and budget affairs. He is also a special prosecutor who worked closely with President Yoon and others in the special investigation team for the Park Geun-hye administration's state affairs manipulation scandal. He also served as the head of the hearing preparation team during Minister Han's confirmation hearing.

Kwon Soon-jung, the new head of the Ministry of Justice's Planning and Coordination Office, assisted President Yoon as Head of Criminal Division 2 when he was Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and served as the Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson, effectively the 'voice' of the Prosecutor General, during his tenure as Prosecutor General.

On the other hand, Lee Sung-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, and Shim Jae-chul, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, who are considered personnel from the previous administration, have been relegated to research positions at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.