Former senior prosecutor Kim Ji-yong nominated as first head of Major Crimes Investigation Office

South Korea has nominated former senior prosecutor Kim Ji-yong to become the first head of the Major Crimes Investigation Office, which is scheduled to launch on Oct. 2.

Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung announced the decision at the government complex in Seoul on the seventh, saying the government had decided to respect the recommendation from the committee that selected candidates for the post. Kim is a former chief of the Chuncheon District Prosecutors’ Office.

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We decided to nominate Kim Ji-yong from among the candidates, respecting the recommendation of the committee that selected candidates for head of the Major Crimes Investigation Office.

Yoon cited Kim’s investigative expertise, fairness and neutrality, along with his experience managing organizations. He said the new office must establish the separation of investigation and prosecution within the criminal justice system while easing concerns about an initial gap in investigative work.

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The Major Crimes Investigation Office must anchor the change to a new criminal justice system based on separating investigation and prosecution, while dispelling concerns about an investigative gap at the start of its operations.

“The Major Crimes Investigation Office must anchor the change to a new criminal justice system based on separating investigation and prosecution, while dispelling concerns about an investigative gap at the start of its operations,” Yoon said. “For that reason, we judged investigative expertise in major crimes, fairness and neutrality during investigations, and the experience and leadership needed to guide a new organization stably to be especially important.”

The government’s choice of a former prosecutor has prompted an assessment that it is placing greater weight on organizational stability and demonstrating investigative capacity than on prosecutorial reform. The source identifies Kim as a native of Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, and a graduate of Sungkyunkwan University’s law program.

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For that reason, we judged investigative expertise in major crimes, fairness and neutrality during investigations, and the experience and leadership needed to guide a new organization stably to be especially important.