The Ministry of Justice has begun vetting for promotions of senior prosecutors at the prosecutor general level in the first half of this year.
According to legal sources, the Ministry of Justice on the 7th notified 34th Judicial Research and Training Institute class prosecutors eligible for promotion to submit consent forms for personnel vetting.
Given that personnel vetting takes at least two to three weeks, appointments at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office-prosecutor level are expected to be made at the end of this month. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office-prosecutor level refers to senior prosecutorial posts that encompass high prosecutors and chief prosecutors. Appointments for deputy and division chief prosecutors, who are at the high prosecutor level, are likely to take place after appointments of line prosecutors on the 2nd of next month.
Some say the government's recent move to add 11 research fellow positions at the Legal Research and Training Institute is a preemptive step toward a major personnel shake-up. Research fellows at the Legal Research and Training Institute do not directly handle field work such as investigations or indictments and are effectively seen within the prosecution as a relegation post. Accordingly, a reshuffle is expected in which incumbent chief prosecutors are assigned as research fellows and deputy-level prosecutors are newly appointed to those posts.
Earlier, on the 11th of last month, the Ministry of Justice also appointed three people, including Kim Chang-jin, head of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office, as research fellows at the Legal Research and Training Institute through senior prosecution appointments.