Lim Eun-jeong, head of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, is said to have applied to the Corruption Investigation Bureau for Serious Crimes (CIBSC), which launches in Oct.
According to legal sources, Lim recently submitted an application for special appointment as a prosecutor or investigator at the CIBSC. Under the CIBSC investigator appointment ordinance, prosecutors and investigators working at the Prosecution Service can transfer to the CIBSC without a separate exam.
A district chief prosecutor like Lim is appointed as a Grade-1 investigator. Deputy chiefs and division chiefs are Grade 2, prosecutors with more than 10 years of legal experience are Grade 3, and those with less than 10 years are equivalent to Grade-4 investigators.
Lim said she was willing to work at the CIBSC during a year-end video conference of front-line agency heads last year. At the time, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office surveyed 910 prosecutors on their future plans, and 0.8% (seven) said they hoped to work at the CIBSC. Lim was among them.
After the news became public, Lim posted on her social media that she hopes to take on hands-on roles such as investigation or inspection, rather than serving as CIBSC chief or other top leadership.
Meanwhile, the CIBSC preparatory team plans to close applications for investigator appointments at 6 p.m. that day. A preparatory team official said, "We will consider whether to disclose the specific number of applicants after the deadline."