Yoon Appoints Shim Woo-jung, Deputy Minister of Justice, as Prosecutor General Candidate: "Holds Firm Convictions"

Shim Woo-jung, Deputy Minister of Justice, nominated as Prosecutor General candidate. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

President Yoon Suk-yeol nominated Shim Woo-jung, Deputy Minister of Justice (age 53, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 26), as the new Prosecutor General candidate on the 11th.

Jung Jin-seok, Chief of Staff to the President, held a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon and announced that President Yoon had appointed Deputy Minister Shim as the successor to Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok.

Chief Jung said about candidate Shim, "He has earned strong trust from members of the prosecution with his rational leadership, possesses deep insight into criminal procedures and prosecutorial systems, and holds a firm belief in the establishment of the rule of law."

He added, "He is judged to be the right person to stably lead the prosecution organization in the future and to properly fulfill the prosecution's fundamental roles of upholding the Constitution, the rule of law, and protecting the people."

Candidate Shim was born in 1971 and graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in law. He was commissioned as a prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office in 2000 and has served as Chief of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Director of the Planning and Coordination Office at the Ministry of Justice, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, and Deputy Prosecutor General at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

Candidate Shim is regarded as a leading 'planning expert' within the prosecution. He worked with President Yoon in the 2016 Special Prosecutor's Team investigating the Choi Soon-sil political scandal, and served as Chief of the Criminal Division 1 alongside President Yoon when the latter was Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.