Ministry of Justice Assigns Prosecutors to Human Rights Protection and Investigation Division Chief Positions... Steps Toward Abandoning 'Deprosecution'

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Ministry of Justice has reassigned prosecutors to the position of Director of the Human Rights Bureau, which had been held by non-prosecutors under the previous administration's policy of 'de-prosecutorization.'

According to the legal community on the 30th, the Ministry of Justice appointed Deputy Prosecutor Lee Yoo-seon (46, Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 34) as the Director of the Human Rights Rescue Division as of the 14th.

Son Chan-oh, a professor at the Ministry of Justice Training Institute's Yongin branch and head of the investigation team for the late Sergeant Lee Ye-ram special investigation team (50, Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 33), will take over as Director of the Human Rights Investigation Division, which became vacant due to Lee's appointment.

During the tenure of former Minister Park Beom-gye, the Ministry of Justice did not assign prosecutors to any divisions within the Human Rights Bureau except for the Human Rights Investigation Division, following the de-prosecutorization policy. Key positions in the Ministry of Justice were also filled by non-prosecutor civil servants or experts. However, since Minister Han Dong-hoon's inauguration, the de-prosecutorization policy appears to be on the path to being discarded.

Resignations of senior officials from non-prosecutor backgrounds have also been occurring consecutively. Lee Sang-gap, Director of the Legal Affairs Office from the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 28), Kim Jong-hyun, Director of the Human Rights Rescue Division from the Korea Legal Aid Corporation (Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 38), and Kim Eui-rae, Legal Affairs Office Litigation Counselor from the Fair Trade Commission (Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 31), have all retired since Minister Han's appointment.