Ministry of Justice Makes First Public Prosecution Office Appointments; Park Cheol-woo and Others Retained

[Financial News] The Ministry of Justice has made its first personnel appointments ahead of the launch of the Public Prosecution Office on October 2. To minimize work gaps caused by the organizational restructuring, it reduced the number of appointments to 192 and focused on personnel requiring separate appointments due to changes in posts or the creation of divisions and departments.
The Ministry of Justice announced on the 29th that it had appointed two prosecutors at the Public Prosecution Office level to new posts and made appointments involving 27 prosecutors at the Public Prosecution Office level, 152 prosecutors at the metropolitan Public Prosecution Office level, and 11 general prosecutors. The appointments take effect on October 2, when the Public Prosecution Office launches.
Under the Public Prosecution Office Act, prosecutors from the existing Prosecutors' Office will be converted into Public Prosecution Office prosecutors. Therefore, no separate personnel orders were issued when only the name of the prosecutors' office changed from the Prosecutors' Office to the Public Prosecution Office. Instead, the appointments focused on cases requiring new assignments due to the organizational restructuring, including changes to post titles, the creation of divisions and departments, and changes to names or affiliations.
This personnel reshuffle prioritized organizational stability. The Ministry of Justice explained, "The appointments were made taking into account the organizational restructuring and transfers to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, while keeping the scale of the appointments to a minimum to ensure uninterrupted work and organizational stability in the early stages of the launch."
New appointments at the Public Prosecution Office prosecutor level were also kept to a minimum. The Ministry of Justice explained that it had considered work capabilities, leadership, and internal and external reputations as a whole before appointing officials capable of leading the organization steadily under the new criminal justice system.
Mid-level prosecutors were assigned to departments that must continue handling existing cases immediately after the launch, with consideration given to maintaining continuity. The measure was intended to ensure the smooth completion of cases requiring continued work for up to 90 days from the opening date, in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act and the supplementary provisions of the Public Prosecution Office Act.
A senior prosecutor with extensive experience in the relevant work was assigned to the newly established Non-Referral Review Division. However, given that these are temporary appointments until the next regular personnel reshuffle, internal reassignments within each office were prioritized and seniority cohorts were applied flexibly.
Among the major appointments, Kim Nam-hoon, chief of the Criminal Affairs Division at the Seoul High Public Prosecutors' Office, was newly appointed Director of the Legal Affairs Office at the Ministry of Justice. Koo Tae-yeon, a prosecutor at the Seoul High Public Prosecutors' Office, will move to become Planning Division Chief at the Legal Research and Training Institute. Seo Jeong-min, the current Director of the Legal Affairs Office, was appointed head of the Seoul Eastern District Public Prosecution Office, succeeding Lim Eun-jung, the head of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, who is moving to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency.
Park Cheol-woo, the current chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, will remain in his post as head of the Seoul Central District Public Prosecution Office. Some senior officials will likewise retain their existing posts, with only the names of their affiliated offices changing under the Public Prosecution Office structure. Rather than carrying out a large-scale replacement of senior officials, the reshuffle focused on retaining existing personnel as much as possible and ensuring continuity of work during the early stages of the Public Prosecution Office's launch.
 
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter