Koo Jahyeon Inaugurated as Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Chief..."Criminal and Trial Divisions Must Be Normalized"

[Financial News] Koo Jahyeon, Chief of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office (Judicial Research and Training Institute 29th class), urged changes in the prosecution, including the normalization of the criminal and trial divisions.
Koo, the Chief Prosecutor, stated at the inauguration ceremony held at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 29th, "The answer to what we should do at a time when criticism of the prosecution and social demands are rising is not complicated," adding, "It is necessary to seriously consider what the original duties of the prosecution are, rather than just working diligently in the usual way and content. We must reflect on whether what we are doing is being carried out in the most effective and necessary direction for the protection of citizens' rights."
He further emphasized, "The more familiar the practice, the more we need to think anew about whether it is faithful to the basics and whether it deviates from the law and regulations," adding, "The new attempts we make on that foundation will be the starting point for moving one step closer to the image of the prosecution that the public wants."
Koo, the Chief Prosecutor, mentioned the workload overload of prosecutors in the criminal and trial divisions due to the adjustment of investigation rights between the prosecution and the police, stating, "Normalizing the circumstances of the criminal and trial divisions to fully listen to the difficulties of crime victims and ensuring that defendants receive strict punishment commensurate with their crimes in criminal trials is perhaps closer to the prosecution image that the public desires."
Koo, the Chief Prosecutor, served as the head of the Legal and Prosecutorial Reform Division under the Legal and Prosecutorial Reform Committee, which discussed the de-prosecution of the Ministry of Justice in early 2018 during the Moon Jae-in administration. In 2020, when then-Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and then-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol were in conflict over the issue of 'complete deprivation of prosecution investigation rights', he served as the spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, acting as the 'mouth' of then-Minister Choo.
Afterwards, he served as the third deputy chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, was promoted to chief prosecutor in the subsequent personnel appointments, and was appointed as the Director of the Prosecution Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, a key position overseeing the personnel and budget of the prosecution. During this time, as the administration changed to the Yoon Seok-yeol government, he remained in so-called 'idle positions' such as Deputy Chief of the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office, Deputy Chief of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office, and Researcher at the Legal Research and Training Institute, before being promoted to Chief Prosecutor in this personnel appointment.  



kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-kyu Reporter