Minister Park Seongjae: "Consulted with the Chief Prosecutor on Chief Prosecutor Personnel... Will Expedite Follow-up Personnel Changes as Much as Possible"

Allegations of Presidential Office Interference Called "Disrespectful to Ministers"

On the 16th, Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae stated that he "consulted with the Prosecutor General on all matters" regarding the recent appointment of chief prosecutors.

Minister Park made this remark on the morning of the 16th while arriving at the Gwacheon Government Complex, in response to reporters' questions asking, "The Prosecutor General reportedly requested a postponement of the appointments; does this mean the consultation was not properly conducted?"

Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae. Photo by Jin-hyung Kang aymsdream@

He also said, "If there was a request about when to carry out the appointments, does that mean the appointments can only be made by fully accepting that request? That is not the case, is it?"

Regarding questions about alleged presidential involvement in this appointment, he responded, "Isn't that a bit disrespectful to the Minister?" and countered, "As the person with the authority to propose appointments, the Minister prepares the personnel plan sufficiently. Did someone in the Presidential Office handle everything?"

When asked whether there had been any change in circumstances since he took office in February and initially said he would not make appointments, he explained, "Since I had been working as a lawyer for a long time, if I had made appointments early on, they would not have been my appointments." He added, "After considering whether there were personnel factors for several months after taking office, I concluded that appointments were necessary and thus carried them out."

In response to the question about interpretations that the recent appointments considered the investigation of First Lady Kim Geon-hee, he said, "Does this appointment mean that the investigation has ended? No, it does not." He added, "The investigation will proceed as it should."

Regarding media reports that he instructed to complete mid-level appointments such as deputy chiefs and division chiefs within two weeks, he replied, "Since the first to fourth deputy chiefs at the Central District Prosecutors' Office are all vacant simultaneously, we plan to make follow-up appointments as quickly as possible to avoid any leadership gaps."

The Ministry of Justice carried out high-level prosecutor appointments, including senior prosecutors and chief prosecutors, on the 13th.

The leadership line of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which is investigating allegations of luxury handbag bribery involving First Lady Kim and the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, including the chief prosecutor and the first to fourth deputy chiefs, was entirely replaced through promotions. Most of the senior staff at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, who act as the Prosecutor General's key aides, were also replaced.

The Ministry of Justice is expected to carry out follow-up appointments for deputy chiefs and division chiefs as early as next week or by the end of this month at the latest.