President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday named Shim Woo-jung, the vice justice minister, to be the new prosecutor general, his office said.
Shim, 53, has been tapped to be the new prosecution chief who will replace Prosecutor General Lee One-seok, according to presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk. Lee’s two-year term will end next month.
In 1994, Shim passed the national bar exam and joined the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office as a prosecutor in 2000. Since then, he served in senior positions in the Seoul prosecutors’ office, the justice ministry and the Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO).
Chung said Shim is regarded as a suitable figure to lead the prosecution to ensure its primary role in upholding the Constitution and protecting people.
“Shim has good knowledge of criminal procedures and the prosecution system, and has a firm belief about the establishment of the rule of law,” Chung told a press briefing.
After going through a parliamentary confirmation hearing, Shim will become the second prose
cutor general under the Yoon administration.
President Yoon was former prosecutor general in 2019-2021 under the administration of ex-liberal President Moon Jae-in.
“I feel heavy responsibility as my nomination came at a critical time. (If appointed), I will do my best to gain public trust in the prosecution,” he told reporters at the building of the justice ministry in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul.
On the prosecution’s investigation into first lady Kim Keon Hee, Shim said it is important to abide by principles in accordance with evidence and laws.
Recently, the SPO and the Seoul prosecution office showed a rift over prosecutors’ closed-door questioning of the first lady.
In July, the Seoul prosecutors’ office questioned Kim over allegations that she received a Christian Dior handbag and other expensive gifts from a pastor, as well as her alleged involvement in a stock manipulation case. She was grilled face-to-face at an undisclosed government building.
Prosecutor General Lee expressed his frustration
s that he had been in the dark about Kim’s questioning. It turned out that Lee Chang-soo, chief of the Seoul prosecution office, belatedly reported to Lee about the investigation into Kim.
Source: Yonhap News Agency