Former Prosecutor Kim Ji-yong Selected as Candidate for First Head of Serious Crime Investigation Agency... 'One Challenge After Another' for Overwhelming Tasks

[Financial News] Kim Ji-yong (58, 28th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), former deputy chief prosecutor of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office, has been selected as the candidate for the first head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency. If Candidate Kim is appointed, it is urgent to resolve the numerous outstanding tasks, including establishing the organization and preventing investigative gaps, as less than a month remains until the agency's launch.
Yun Ho-jung, Minister of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), nominated former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim as the first head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency on the 7th. Candidate Kim will be appointed after completing procedures including a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly.
If Candidate Kim takes office after the confirmation hearing and other procedures, he will immediately be tasked with establishing the organizational framework. With less than a month remaining until the launch of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, the appointment of senior officials, including the deputy head and heads of regional Serious Crime Investigation Agency offices, must be expedited. Vacancies not filled through special appointments must be filled through additional special appointments and open recruitment. Although 2,376 prosecutors applied for special appointments to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, 615 withdrew, leaving an increasing number of vacancies. The Serious Crime Investigation Agency Launch Preparatory Team plans to conduct career-based competitive recruitment targeting police officers, lawyers, and accountants, while also carrying out additional special appointments.
Once the personnel have been selected, concrete investigative teams must be formed. In particular, appropriate personnel allocation will be important to prevent staff from being concentrated in popular departments such as the Fair Trade Investigation Department. As this is a newly established organization, Candidate Kim is expected to face the task of demonstrating leadership so that investigators from diverse backgrounds can work together.
Preventing investigative gaps is also a key task. Personnel deployment and case-handling procedures must be urgently arranged to enable an immediate response to crimes within the Serious Crime Investigation Agency's jurisdiction, including insurrection and foreign aggression, economic crimes, narcotics offenses, defense industry technology and military secrets, and technology leaks. Preparations must also be made for the transfer of cases handled by nine joint investigation units within the prosecution, including the Joint Financial and Securities Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea (SPO) will also hold a two-day video conference of deputy chief prosecutors from across the country starting today to discuss case-handling measures following the launch of the Public Prosecution Office. This is intended to gather the opinions of each office after case-handling plans for each department were previously circulated to frontline prosecutors' offices. The SPO plans to classify cases currently under investigation by type, promptly process those that can be handled, and, where unavoidable, handle them within the 90-day grace period under the revised Criminal Procedure Act or transfer them to other investigative agencies. In unavoidable circumstances, it may also request supplementary investigations from the police and the Serious Crime Investigation Agency.
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter