On the 1st, the Ministry of Justice conducted the first senior prosecutor appointments of the Lee Jae-myung government. The second-highest position at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office, the Vice Commissioner, has been given to Roh Man-seok (29th judicial research and training institute), the Director General of the Drug and Organized Crime Division. Jeong Jin-woo (29th judicial research and training institute) from the Northern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office has been appointed as the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and Seong Sang-heon (30th judicial research and training institute), the Chief Prosecutor of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, has been appointed as the Prosecutor-General of the Ministry of Justice. Lim Eun-jeong (30th judicial research and training institute), a senior prosecutor at the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, has been promoted to the Chief Prosecutor of the Eastern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office.
The Ministry of Justice said, "In accordance with the launch of the new government, personnel changes were made to refresh the atmosphere and realize legal administration that meets the national policy framework." This appointment will take effect on the 4th.
This appointment was made after President Lee Jae-myung nominated Jeong Seong-ho as the Minister of Justice and appointed Bong Wook as the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Presidential Office. The day before, Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jeong, Vice Commissioner Lee Jin-dong at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office, Chief Prosecutor Yang Seok-jo of the Eastern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office, and Chief Prosecutor Shin Eung-seok of the Southern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office expressed their intention to resign to the Ministry of Justice. The position of Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office had been vacant since Lee Chang-soo resigned in May.
Roh Man-seok, Vice Commissioner at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office, is originally from Changnyeong, Gyeongnam, and graduated from Daehap High School (now Changnyeong Daeseong High School) and the law school of Sungkyunkwan University. He passed the 39th national bar exam and began his career as a prosecutor at the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office in 2000. He mostly worked in the Special Investigation Division. He served as the Vice Commissioner at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office and then as the Chief Prosecutor of Jeju District Prosecutors' Office, taking over the Drug and Organized Crime Division at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office from May of last year.
Jeong Jin-woo, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, graduated from Dankook University High School and studied law at Seoul National University, passing the 39th national bar exam. He started as a prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office in 2003 and was dispatched to the Special Investigation Team for Savings Bank Scandal. He served as the Director of the International Criminal Affairs Division at the Ministry of Justice and worked as the Director of the Public Order Planning Division and the Chief of the Crime Investigation Division at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office. He has also served as the Chief Prosecutor of Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office and the Northern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office. The Central District Prosecutors' Office is the largest prosecutor's office in the country, handling cases involving major politicians and corporations.
Seong Sang-heon, the Prosecutor-General of the Ministry of Justice, graduated from Yeongdong High School in Seoul and the Department of Public Law at Seoul National University, passing the 40th national bar exam. He began his career as a prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in 2004 before serving as the Crime Information Officer 2 at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office and then the Investigation Information Officer 2. He also served as the Vice Commissioner of the Eastern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office. In the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, he was the first Vice Commissioner of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Minister of Planning at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office. The Prosecutor-General oversees prosecutor personnel matters, organization, and budget. Former Prosecutor-General Song Kang will be transferred to serve as the Chief Prosecutor of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office.
Lim Eun-jeong, a senior prosecutor at the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office who is currently serving as a member of the Presidential Committee on Policy Planning under the Lee Jae-myung government, was unexpectedly appointed as the Chief Prosecutor of the Eastern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office. She was promoted from senior prosecutor to chief prosecutor, skipping the Vice Commissioner position. Chief Prosecutor Lim is from Pohang, North Gyeongsang, and graduated from Busan Girls' High School and Korea University Law School. Chief Prosecutor Lim gained attention during the Moon Jae-in administration for raising suspicions about the interference in the investigation of the former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook by then-Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol. Since then, she has voiced criticisms about prosecutor appointments and policies through the internal prosecutor network and her own social media.
Meanwhile, the head of the Planning and Coordination Division at the Ministry of Justice, who will prepare for the personnel hearing of candidate Jeong Seong-ho, has been promoted to Choi Ji-seok (31st judicial research and training institute), who is the head of the Inspection Division at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office (Vice Commissioner level). The head of the Planning and Coordination Division assists the Minister and Vice Minister of Justice in overseeing policies. Choi graduated from Jamsil High School and Seoul National University Law School. After passing the 41st national bar exam, he began his career as a prosecutor at the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office in 2005. He was dispatched to the special investigation team concerning the purchase of the Naegok-dong private residence land suspicion case, and served as the Deputy Commissioner at the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office, the Chief Prosecutor of the Cheonan Branch at the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, and the head of the Inspection Division at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office.
Moreover, Kim Tae-hoon has been appointed as the Chief Prosecutor of the Southern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office, which handles major financial and securities cases. Kim is from Jincheon, Chungbuk, graduated from Kyungi High School and the Department of Law at Seoul National University, and passed the 40th national bar exam. He started his career as a prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office in 2001 and served as the head of the Policy Planning Division at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office, the Prosecutor at the Ministry of Justice, and the fourth Vice Commissioner at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
In addition, Kim Soo-hong, the head of the Financial Investigation Division 1 at the Southern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office, will become the Prosecutor at the Ministry of Justice, while Lim Se-jin, the Prosecutor at the Ministry of Justice, will take over as the head of the Financial Investigation Division 1 at the Southern Seoul District Prosecutors' Office.