"Focus Efforts on Protecting Citizens from Crime"
"Ensure No Work Gaps Occur During Holiday Period"
New Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung went to work on the first day of her term, the 16th, despite it being during the Chuseok holiday period, to check the work situation.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced that on this day, Prosecutor General Shim came to the office and, together with key aides, reviewed the work status during the Chuseok holiday period.
Additionally, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "At this meeting, the Prosecutor General urged to 'focus capabilities to fully perform the prosecution's fundamental role of protecting the people from crime, and to carefully manage communication with frontline offices during the holiday period to prevent any work gaps from occurring.'"
Prosecutor General Shim began her two-year term on this day, succeeding former Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok, who retired on the 15th upon expiration of his term.
Prosecutor General Shim's inauguration ceremony will be held on the 19th at 11 a.m. in the large conference room on the 15th floor of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office main building, after the holiday ends.
At the start of her term, Prosecutor General Shim inherited the task of concluding investigations and making final decisions on the case involving Mrs. Kim's luxury handbag receipt and the allegations of stock price manipulation related to Deutsche Motors.
In the case of Deutsche Motors, since the time when President Yoon Seok-yeol was Prosecutor General, the investigation command by Prosecutor General was excluded following the investigation directive by then Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, and this has yet to be restored. However, if the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office decides not to indict Mrs. Kim, criticism is expected to be directed at the entire prosecution, including Prosecutor General Shim.
In particular, since the first trial acquittal of Mr. Son, a former key figure who was evaluated to have played a role similar to Mrs. Kim, was overturned in the appellate court and he was found guilty of aiding stock price manipulation, the prosecution, which has announced it will observe the appellate court's result and then make a final decision on Mrs. Kim, now faces the situation where it must explain to the public the specific differences between Mr. Son and Mrs. Kim in order to justify a non-indictment decision for Mrs. Kim.
Originally, former Prosecutor General Lee had expressed his intention to conclude the investigation into the luxury handbag case within his term, but this was thwarted when the decision was made to hold a Prosecutorial Investigation Committee meeting regarding Pastor Choi Jae-young, who gifted the luxury handbag to Mrs. Kim.
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