Final Candidate Selection for Chief of the Corruption Investigation Office Stalls... Acting Chief to Submit Resignation This Month
Prolonged Vacancy Risks 'Member Departure' and Worst-Case Scenario
The 'command line' of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (Gong-su-cheo), which has been in operation for three years, has collapsed. This follows vacancies in the positions of the chief and deputy chief, and now the head prosecutor acting as the interim chief has also expressed his intention to resign voluntarily. While this is seen as a predictable sequence of events, if the appointment of a new chief is not finalized promptly, the possibility of a worst-case scenario such as the departure of members cannot be ruled out.
According to the legal community on the 11th, the candidate recommendation committee for the Gong-su-cheo chief has repeatedly failed to select a candidate. At the recently held 7th meeting, no final candidate was chosen, resulting in more than two months of deadlock.
Under the Gong-su-cheo Act, among the seven recommendation committee members, five must agree to recommend two candidates, from whom the president appoints one. Among the eight candidates under review, only lawyer Odong-woon has been selected as a final candidate, while the other candidate has yet to be chosen.
In this situation, Kim Seon-gyu, head prosecutor of Investigation Division 1 and acting chief of Gong-su-cheo, expressed his intention to resign on the 7th. Kim was sentenced to a fine of 10 million won on the 6th in the second trial of a case in which he was indicted for leaking investigation records he had prepared while working at the prosecution in the past. The day after the guilty verdict, Kim reportedly convened an emergency executive meeting and stated, "I have decided to resign as I judged that I should not be a burden to Gong-su-cheo and its members."
Within the prosecution, there was an assessment that Kim, who was appointed as a Gong-su-cheo head prosecutor despite his background in the prosecution, was a figure who could cause unexpected disruptive variables.
However, Kim plans to handle ongoing matters such as handing over duties until the recommendation committee meeting scheduled for the 29th of this month before submitting his formal resignation letter. If Kim's resignation is accepted, the acting chief and acting deputy chief positions will be taken over by the heads of Investigation Divisions 2 and 3, respectively, according to the organizational hierarchy.
If no final candidate is selected at the recommendation committee meeting this month, Gong-su-cheo is expected to face increased confusion for the time being. Although it achieved its first victory since its launch by securing a guilty verdict in the first trial of the recent 'accusation manipulation' scandal, a prolonged leadership vacancy could lead to a worst-case scenario of a chain departure of members.
As Gong-su-cheo has failed to produce significant results and only faced ongoing controversies, only two of the original 13 prosecutors appointed during its initial launch remain. With the full quota of 25 prosecutors not yet filled, any additional departures would likely leave Gong-su-cheo barely maintaining its existence and unable to properly perform its core functions of investigation and prosecution of prosecutors.
A lawyer who is a former deputy chief prosecutor commented, "This was anticipated from the time Gong-su-cheo was established, and it seems to be unfolding as expected after its launch. An abnormally structured organization is unlikely to be sustained over a long period."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
