Committee formed to recommend first head of Public Prosecution Office ... Public nominations open from 14 to 21

[Financial News] On the 13th, the Ministry of Justice formed the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee to recommend a candidate for Prosecutor General, the first head of the Public Prosecution Office. With the Prosecutor General post having been vacant for an extended period, the selection process for the office’s first head is now moving forward in earnest for the first time since the Public Prosecution Office was launched.
The Ministry of Justice said it had formed a nine-member Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee that day.
The ex officio members are Gi U-jong, deputy chief of the National Court Administration; Kim Jeong-uk, president of the Korean Bar Association (KBA); Choi Bong-gyeong, president of the Korean Law Professors Association; Kim Hyeon-su, chair of the Council of Law Schools; and Lee Eung-cheol, director general of the Criminal Justice Bureau at the Ministry of Justice.
The non-ex officio members appointed to the committee are former Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il, former Seoul National University Vice President Yeo Jeong-seong, Semyung University Distinguished Professor Shim Seok-tae, and Seoul Western Smile Center Director Baek Myeong-jae. Lee Jin-su, acting Minister of Justice (vice minister), appointed former Prosecutor General Moon as committee chair, citing his experience and standing in society.
From the 14th through the 21st, the Ministry of Justice will also accept public nominations for candidates to be recommended for appointment as Prosecutor General. Any individual, corporation, or organization may nominate someone with at least 15 years of legal experience as a candidate.
Nominations must be submitted in a confidential written document stating the nominee’s principal career history and the reasons for the nomination. Submissions will not be accepted by email or fax; they may be delivered in person or sent by mail.
After the public nomination period ends, the Minister of Justice will take the nominations and other factors into account and present to the committee for review the people deemed suitable for recommendation as Prosecutor General. As the post of Minister of Justice is currently vacant, acting Minister Lee Jin-su will handle the relevant procedures.
The committee will assess the candidates’ qualifications and recommend at least three candidates for Prosecutor General to the Minister of Justice. The minister will then respect the committee’s recommendations and formally recommend a final candidate to the President. The President will appoint the candidate after a National Assembly confirmation hearing.
The Prosecutor General post has remained vacant for more than a year since former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung resigned in July last year. It has since been operated under an acting leadership structure, and the system transitioned to the Public Prosecution Office after the Prosecutors’ Office was abolished on the 2nd.
The Prosecutor General retains the existing title even after the launch of the Public Prosecution Office. The term is two years, and the officeholder cannot serve a second term. As the selection of the first Prosecutor General moves forward in earnest, attention is focused on whether efforts to establish the Public Prosecution Office’s chain of command will also pick up pace in its early days.
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter