Prosecutors Assembled with 'Knife-Wielders'... When Will the Prosecutor General Arrive?

‘Daejang-dong Investigation Team’ Completely Overhauled... Special Investigation Experts Fully Deployed
Prosecutors in Charge of ‘Moon Government Corruption Allegations’, Wolseong Nuclear Plant and Ulsan Mayor Investigations Take Lead

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] As the organizational restructuring of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which boasts the highest firepower in the prosecution, has been completed, full-scale investigation mode has begun. However, concerns are rising as the vacancy of the Prosecutor General, the head of the prosecution, is prolonged.

There is criticism that the next Prosecutor General will become a 'figurehead Prosecutor General' due to the regular personnel reshuffle being carried out without a Prosecutor General. Nevertheless, a focal point is needed to prepare for the implementation of the "Prosecution Reform Act" starting this September and to complete major investigations before then.

On the 5th, inside and outside the prosecution, there is growing speculation that Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon will announce the formation of the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee upon his return from a business trip to the United States on the 7th. The recommendation committee consists of five ex officio members: the Director of the Ministry of Justice's Prosecution Bureau, the Deputy Chief of the Court Administration Office, the President of the Korean Bar Association, the President of the Korean Law Professors Association, and the Chairman of the Council of Law Schools, along with four non-ex officio members.

The Ministry of Justice will announce the committee's composition and then receive candidate recommendations from the public for one week. After the recommendation period ends, the Minister of Justice will nominate some of these candidates to the committee for review. The committee will recommend at least three candidates to the Minister, who will then propose one of them to the President.

Names of several figures both inside and outside the prosecution, such as former Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute Bae Seong-beom (23rd Judicial Research and Training Institute class) and Busan High Prosecutors' Office Chief Prosecutor Noh Jeong-yeon (25th class), have been circulating as candidates for the first Prosecutor General under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. Since former Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo resigned, nearly two months have passed without finalizing the new Prosecutor General appointment, leading to rampant speculation.

Within the prosecution, there is a prevailing atmosphere of accepting Deputy Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok, who is acting as the Prosecutor General, as the de facto Prosecutor General. This acting Prosecutor General has revived the monthly expanded senior prosecutors' meetings that had disappeared and is receiving weekly face-to-face reports from chief prosecutors of key investigations, such as the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, focusing all efforts on normalizing the previously abnormal organization.

In this situation, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which is handling cases such as the Daejang-dong development allegations, the West Sea government official killing allegations, and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's presidential election pledge development allegations, has reorganized into a specialized investigation unit through the restructuring. The direct investigation departments, which were converted to criminal and trial divisions under the Moon Jae-in administration, have been renamed: Criminal Division 10 became Public Investigation Division 3, and Criminal Division 11 became the International Crime Investigation Division. The Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Investigation Divisions 1 and 2 and the Economic Crime Investigation Division were changed to Anti-Corruption Investigation Divisions 1, 2, and 3, and a Violent Crime Investigation Division was newly established.

Having completed the organizational restructuring, the Central District Prosecutors' Office has deployed prosecutors with proven expertise in special and public security investigations to establish a full-fledged investigation posture. The Anti-Corruption Division 1, which handled the Daejang-dong development allegations, underwent a complete personnel overhaul. Led by Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun (32nd class) and Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Il-kwon (37th class), who was dispatched to the Financial Intelligence Unit, the division is now under new leadership.

The Anti-Corruption Division 3, renamed from the Economic Crime Investigation Division that handled the Daejang-dong related investigations, reassigned five existing personnel to the Trial Division 5, which is in charge of the Daejang-dong trial, retained only two existing personnel, and replaced the deputy chief prosecutor and the remaining prosecutors.

The Public Investigation Division 1, investigating the West Sea government official killing allegations, is led by Chief Prosecutor Lee Hee-dong (32nd class), who was the head of the Election Investigation Support Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office during President Yoon Seok-yeol's tenure as Prosecutor General, with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Ha Jun-ho (37th class), a former researcher at the Anti-Corruption Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, joining the team.

The Public Investigation Division 2, handling the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's presidential election pledge development allegations, is centered around Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-hyun (33rd class), who investigated the alleged economic manipulation at the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Song Jun-gu (36th class), who investigated the Ulsan mayoral election interference allegations, and Prosecutor Jo Jae-cheol (39th class), a former researcher at the Public Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, have been deployed, suggesting that investigations targeting the previous administration's misconduct allegations will accelerate.