Chief Prosecutor in Charge of Investigation Related to Kim Geon-hee Retained... Ministry of Justice "Maintaining Work Continuity"
Former President Moon's Son-in-law 'Preferential Hiring Suspicion' Chief Prosecutor Transferred to Central District Prosecutors' Office
In the mid-level personnel reshuffle at the deputy chief prosecutor and chief prosecutor levels, all the chief prosecutors of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigating allegations related to First Lady Kim Geon-hee were retained. It appears that the existing investigation team was maintained to quell criticism from the opposition accusing the sudden replacement of the Central District Prosecutors' Office chief and other chief prosecutor-level personnel reshuffles of attempting to derail the investigation related to First Lady Kim Geon-hee, as well as to suppress political controversy.
On the 29th, the Ministry of Justice conducted a personnel reshuffle for 514 prosecutors at the senior prosecutor level, effective from the 3rd of next month. The Ministry of Justice stated that department heads handling major ongoing cases were retained, and deputy chiefs were excluded from the transfer list unless there were special circumstances to ensure continuity of work.
All vacant positions for the first to fourth deputy chief prosecutors at the Central District Prosecutors' Office, which became vacant in the recent chief prosecutor-level reshuffle, were filled. Park Seung-hwan, head of the Policy Planning Division at the Ministry of Justice (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 32), was appointed as the first deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office; Gong Bong-sook, chief of the Yeoju branch office who previously served as head of the Criminal Investigation Department for Women and Children at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and head of the Criminal Division 2 at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (class 32), was appointed as the second deputy chief prosecutor; Lee Seong-sik, who led public security cases such as elections and labor, and was dispatched to the National Intelligence Service after serving as head of the Public Criminal Division at the Ministry of Justice (class 32), was appointed as the third deputy chief prosecutor; and Cho Sang-won, second deputy chief prosecutor of the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office (class 32), was appointed as the fourth deputy chief prosecutor. Deputy Chief Cho worked closely with Lee Chang-soo, then chief of the Seongnam branch and now chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, investigating allegations of Seongnam FC sponsorship funds involving Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party.
With Kim Seung-ho, head of the Criminal Division 1 at the Central District Prosecutors' Office (class 33), and Choi Jae-hoon, head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 (class 34), who are leading frontline investigations into allegations of First Lady Kim Geon-hee receiving luxury handbags, stock price manipulation of Deutsche Motors, and the Democratic Party's money envelope scandal, being retained, the investigation is expected to proceed as planned by the investigation team. It is reported that Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok and Chief Lee requested the Ministry of Justice to retain these two before the reshuffle. Although the announcement of the mid-level prosecutor personnel reshuffle was delayed more than expected, leading to speculation that Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae was considering replacing them until the last moment, the decision was ultimately made to maintain the existing investigation team.
Additionally, Seo Hyun-wook, chief prosecutor of the Criminal Division 6 at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, who is investigating allegations related to Lee Jae-myung's remittances to North Korea, was also retained. However, Heo Hoon, head of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seongnam branch office (class 35), replaced the head of the Public Investigation Division at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, who is investigating allegations of misuse of corporate credit cards by Lee's wife, Kim Hye-kyung. Kang Baek-shin, former head of the Anti-Corruption Division 1 at the Central District Prosecutors' Office (class 34), who handled the presidential election opinion manipulation case, moved to become deputy chief at the Seongnam branch, and Lee Jun-dong, head of the Criminal Division 5 at the Central District Prosecutors' Office (class 34), was assigned.
Lee Seung-hak, head of the Criminal Division 3 at the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office (class 36), who is investigating the preferential hiring allegations involving former President Moon Jae-in's son-in-law Seo, moved to become head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 at the Central District Prosecutors' Office. With Chief Lee and Deputy Chief Lee Seung-hak, who led the investigation, moving to the Central District Prosecutors' Office, the possibility of transferring this investigation to the Central District Prosecutors' Office has increased.
Regarding allegations of interference in the Ulsan mayoral election, Cho Min-woo, head of the Public Investigation Division 2 at the Central District Prosecutors' Office, who is investigating Cho Guk, leader of the Cho Guk Innovation Party, and former presidential secretary Im Jong-seok, was replaced by Cho Min-woo, head of the Public Criminal Division at the Ministry of Justice (class 34).
The public relations teams of the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office were also completely replaced. Noh Seon-gyun, planning officer at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (class 35), was appointed as spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, and Lee Eung-cheol, deputy chief prosecutor at the Suncheon branch office (class 33), was appointed as spokesperson for the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. The Crime Information Planning Office at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which serves as the eyes and ears of the Prosecutor General, was also entirely replaced. Ha Dong-woo, head of the Joint Financial and Securities Crime Investigation Division at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (class 33), was appointed as crime information planning officer at the deputy chief prosecutor level; Kim Jeong-hoon, head of the Criminal Division 5 at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office (class 36), was appointed as Crime Information Officer 1; and Choi Jae-soon, chief of the Gongju branch office (class 37), was appointed as Crime Information Officer 2.
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