Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae to Hold Sequential Meetings with Chief Prosecutors Nationwide Starting This Week

Park Seong-jae, Minister of Justice, will hold a meeting with the chiefs of the High Prosecutors' Offices and the chiefs of the District Prosecutors' Offices nationwide for the first time since his inauguration to listen to opinions on solutions to 'investigation delays' and other issues.

On the 17th, the Ministry of Justice announced that Minister Park plans to start with a meeting of the high prosecutors on the morning of the 18th and then hold sequential meetings with the chiefs of frontline prosecutors. The meetings will be held at the Government Complex Gwacheon, with a meeting of the district prosecutors scheduled for the morning of the 25th and a meeting of the Seoul Metropolitan Area prosecutors on the morning of the 29th.

Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae is speaking at the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 26th of last month. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The nationwide meeting of high prosecutors on the 18th is expected to be attended by Lee Ju-hyeong, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, Byeon Pil-geon, Chief Prosecutor of Suwon High Prosecutors' Office, as well as the chiefs of the Daejeon, Daegu, Busan, and Gwangju High Prosecutors' Offices.

A Ministry of Justice official stated, "This will be an opportunity to hear the opinions of frontline agency heads regarding the direction of development in legal and prosecutorial work, including the swift realization of justice in criminal justice procedures and strengthening the political neutrality of the prosecution."

The issue of investigation delays is expected to be a major focus at this nationwide meeting of high prosecutors and district prosecutors.

In his inaugural speech on the 20th of last month, Minister Park stated, "Since the enactment of the bill adjusting investigative authority between the police and prosecution, many citizens have expressed discomfort due to delays in investigations and trials."

He is reported to have recently sent an email to the chiefs of prosecutors saying, "Having worked as a lawyer, I realize that the problems of delays in investigations and trials are serious and cause great inconvenience to the public," and expressed his intention to have in-depth discussions with the chiefs at this meeting.

In addition, discussions are expected to be held on the issue of the violation of prosecutors' political neutrality, which arose from the declaration of candidacy by a sitting prosecutor during this general election process.