It has been confirmed that eight individuals, including Kim Tae-gyu, Vice Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, and Seo Min-seok, lead attorney at Haegwang Law Firm, have been named in the first list of candidates for the next Chief of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (Gong-su-cheo). Initially, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Yeo Woon-guk was also included in the candidate pool, but he reportedly expressed his intention to withdraw his recommendation yesterday.
According to legal circles, the Candidate Recommendation Committee for the Gong-su-cheo Chief will hold its second meeting on the afternoon of the 30th at the National Assembly to deliberate on which of the eight candidates proposed by the recommenders is suitable for the next Gong-su-cheo Chief.
Each committee member recommended candidates with the consent of the individuals by the 20th, and the candidates submitted the necessary documents for the review to the National Assembly Secretariat.
The list shared with the recommenders the day before included nine candidates: Deputy Chief Yeo Woon-guk, Vice Chairman Kim Tae-gyu, attorney Seo Min-seok, Professor Han Sang-gyu of Ajou University School of Law, attorney Oh Dong-woon of Geumseong Law Firm, attorney Lee Hyuk, attorney Lee Cheon-se of Dongin Law Firm, attorney Lee Tae-han of Dongin Law Firm, and lead attorney Choi Chang-seok of Pyeongsan Law Firm. Among them, Deputy Chief Yeo reportedly contacted the recommender who nominated him the previous evening to request removal from the candidate pool. This is interpreted as a repercussion following Deputy Chief Kim Myung-seok, a current Gong-su-cheo member, publicly mentioning Yeo’s political bias in a media article the day before, and Yeo’s subsequent announcement of plans to sue Kim for defamation and breach of official secrecy.
Among the candidates, four?Vice Chairman Kim Tae-gyu, Professor Han Sang-gyu, attorneys Seo Min-seok and Oh Dong-woon?are former judges, while three?attorneys Lee Hyuk, Lee Cheon-se, and Lee Tae-han?are former prosecutors. Attorney Choi Chang-seok started as a prosecutor and later transferred to become a judge.
Vice Chairman Kim Tae-gyu was a critic of Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su’s administration during the Moon Jae-in government and publicly criticized the Democratic Party’s “complete prosecution reform” bill after resigning. Attorney Seo Min-seok represented former Gyeonggi Province Peace Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young, who was implicated in the Ssangbangwool Group’s North Korea remittance case, but resigned following controversy over dismissal by Lee’s wife. Attorney Lee Tae-han served as chief prosecutor at the Ansan branch of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and head of the Criminal Division 4 at Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, and currently serves as the Vice President of the Korean Bar Association.
The Recommendation Committee plans to narrow down the final candidates to two through deliberation. The President will appoint one of them as the next Gong-su-cheo Chief. Unlike the first term’s candidate recommendation, the committee members have decided to keep secret who recommended whom to avoid partisan controversies associated with labels such as ruling party or opposition party recommendations. It is also reported that the members agreed not to disclose their recommendations to each other.
Current Gong-su-cheo Chief Kim Jin-wook’s term expires on January 20 next year.
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