CIO a stepping stone to jobs at major law firms? ... Maximum term of 12 years, but average tenure is '2 years'

[Financial News] About half of the prosecutors appointed to the CIO have left so far, it has been confirmed. The average length of service was just two years, despite a maximum possible term of 12 years.
According to data the office of Kim Gi-pyo, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, received from the CIO, 25 of the 46 prosecutors appointed from the office’s launch in January 2021 through last August (54%) had resigned at their own request. The former prosecutors had an average tenure of only about two years (749 days).
Under the CIO Act, prosecutors at the CIO serve three-year terms and may be reappointed three times, allowing them to serve for up to 12 years. No one had left the CIO after serving the full 12 years or upon reaching the mandatory retirement age.
The shortest-serving prosecutor was found to have left after 273 days, before completing even one year from the date of appointment. Among prosecutors appointed to the CIO, those with a background as lawyers were the largest group, at 15 (32%), followed by those from the prosecution service, at 13 (28%); other state institutions, at 9 (19%); and the National Police Agency, at 5 (10%).
Rep. Kim criticized the CIO, saying, “The agency has become a stepping stone for building up experience before moving to major law firms and the like,” and added, “Fundamental organizational reform is needed.”
[email protected] Yu Seon-jun Reporter