Who will be the first Prosecutor General of the Lee Government to lead 'Prosecution Reform'?

[Financial News] With the resignation of former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, the position remains vacant, drawing attention to the selection of the first Prosecutor General under the Lee Jae-myung government. It is expected that a person who can align with the government's 'prosecution reform' policy while resolving internal chaos and conflicts will be appointed.
According to the legal community on the 28th, the Ministry of Justice is expected to form the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee (Prosecutor Recommendation Committee) next month to begin the selection process for the Prosecutor General candidate. However, it is reported that even the first task of selecting a nominee for the Prosecutor Recommendation Committee has not yet started.
Typically, the appointment of a Prosecutor General takes about two months after the Prosecutor Recommendation Committee is formed. This is because the committee must be formed, go through a hearing, and undergo several procedures including the President's appointment. In this case, the new Prosecutor General is likely to be announced at least by October.
Candidates being discussed for the new Prosecutor General to lead 'prosecution reform' include Noh Man-seok, Deputy Chief of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Koo Ja-hyun, the new Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, and Ye Se-min, a representative lawyer at Yemunjeong & Partners Law Firm.
Noh, as the acting Prosecutor General, is currently leading the prosecution organization and served as the prosecutor in charge at the Ministry of Justice during the Moon Jae-in administration. He investigated significant cases such as the 'DAS slush fund' allegations against former President Lee Myung-bak and the martial law document drafting allegations of the Park Geun-hye government's Defense Security Command.
Koo, the Chief Prosecutor, has held key positions such as the spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, the 3rd Deputy Chief of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and the Director of the Prosecutors' Office at the Ministry of Justice, but was demoted to a research committee member at the Legal Research and Training Institute under the Yoon Seok-yeol government. He was appointed as the Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in the first high-level personnel appointment of the Lee Jae-myung government on the 25th.
In the case of lawyer Ye, he is a former prosecutor who served as the head of the Planning and Coordination Department of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Chief Prosecutor of Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office.
Previously, on the 25th, the Ministry of Justice conducted personnel appointments for 33 senior executives at the level of Chief Prosecutor or higher. All heads of departments at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, except for the head of the Inspection Department, were newly appointed. Those who were assigned to 'idle positions' under the Yoon Seok-yeol government were mainly utilized.
This personnel appointment is interpreted as an expression of the intention to reform the organization through 'prosecution reform' by forming a staff before the appointment process of the Prosecutor General even began. As the Lee Jae-myung government approaches two months since its inauguration, it is interpreted as an intention to secure workers who align with the new government's policy rather than waiting for the lengthy appointment of a new Prosecutor General.
The situation where the Ministry of Justice forms the prosecution staff without consulting the Prosecutor General is not unprecedented. There were similar instances during the tenures of Choo Mi-ae and Park Beom-gye as Ministers of Justice under the Moon Jae-in administration, and Han Dong-hoon as Minister of Justice under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. All were periods when 'prosecution reform' was being carried out in some sense.
A Ministry of Justice official explained this personnel appointment as "the first large-scale personnel appointment to stably promote 'prosecution reform' for the people by reforming the organization after the Minister of Justice took office."

kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-kyu Reporter