Personnel changes involving mid-level executives in the prosecution organization, including deputy chief prosecutors, chief prosecutors, and some ordinary prosecutors, are imminent. They are expected to be implemented as early as this week.
According to the legal community on the 19th, the Ministry of Justice held a meeting of the Prosecution Personnel Committee at the Government Complex Gwacheon the day before, setting the principles and standards for personnel changes involving prosecutors at the high prosecutor level (deputy chief prosecutors and chief prosecutors) and ordinary prosecutors. The Ministry of Justice disclosed the main contents on the prosecution's internal network, 'Epross,' immediately after the meeting. The personnel changes will be announced around mid to late this month, with appointments taking place in late this month. The Ministry of Justice also stated, "We will continue to make appropriate personnel placements according to the existing personnel policy, including new appointments and resignations of prosecutors at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office level (high prosecutors and chief prosecutors), and filling vacancies due to the reorganization of the prosecution system."
It added, "Some prosecutors from the 33rd Judicial Research and Training Institute class will be newly appointed as deputy chief prosecutors, some from the 37th class as chief prosecutors, and the 38th class as deputy chief prosecutors." Regarding ordinary prosecutor personnel changes, it said, "While adhering to personnel principles and standards such as rotation and exchange policies and regional distribution by local prosecution offices, we will also reflect individual circumstances and wishes through long-term service systems for childbirth and childcare purposes." It further stated, "Personnel changes will be conducted for prosecutors who have fulfilled the mandatory service period, but the scale of ordinary prosecutor personnel changes in the second half of the year will be minimized." For prosecutors who transferred from four prosecution offices with a mandatory service period of three years (Incheon, Suwon, Daegu, and Busan District Prosecutors' Offices) to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, excluding the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, the mandatory service period has been extended from the previous two years to three years.
The biggest focus of the personnel changes is the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. In particular, attention is drawn to the 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor, who is leading investigations into cases involving Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, such as the 'Baekhyeon-dong Development Project Favoritism,' the 'Ssangbangwool Group's North Korea remittance,' the '2021 Democratic Party Convention money envelope distribution,' and the 'presidential election interference and public opinion manipulation' allegations. The legal community is increasingly analyzing that considering the continuity of the investigations, the current 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor Ko Hyung-gon (age 53, 31st Judicial Research and Training Institute class) will be retained. This speculation aligns with the recent personnel changes on the 4th, where Song Kyung-ho, chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (age 53, 29th class), was retained. Attention is also focused on the appointments of the 1st Deputy Chief Prosecutor, who leads various criminal investigations at the Central District Prosecutors' Office, and the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor, who will lead election-related investigations around next year's general elections. These positions became vacant as the previous 1st Deputy Chief Prosecutor Seong Sang-heon (age 50, 30th class) and 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Ki-dong (age 51, 30th class) were promoted to the head of the Planning and Coordination Department and the head of the Public Investigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, respectively. Other positions to watch include the head of the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, currently investigating the 'Jeongja-dong Hotel Development Favoritism' allegations involving Lee Jae-myung, and the newly created position of Director of Drug and Organized Crime Planning at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office established during the organizational restructuring in May.
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