Four candidates shortlisted to lead South Korea’s Serious Crime Investigation Agency

South Korea has narrowed the field for the first head of its new Serious Crime Investigation Agency to four candidates: former prosecutors Kim Kwan-jung and Kim Ji-yong, law professor Lee Yun-je, and lawyer Moon Hong-joo, a former judge who served as a special counsel deputy in the Kim Keon Hee case.

The agency head recommendation committee reached the decision on Sept. 4 at a meeting in Seoul. The committee reviewed 11 candidates presented by Interior Minister Yoon Ho-joong after excluding 12 of 23 publicly recommended names who did not agree to the screening process.

The interior minister is expected to respect the committee’s recommendation and propose one final candidate to the president. The nominee must then go through a parliamentary confirmation hearing before the president makes the appointment.

The agency is due to launch on Oct. 2 alongside the abolition of the prosecution service. It will take over investigative functions from prosecutors and handle supplementary investigations into initial cases, as well as seven major crime areas including corruption, economic crime and narcotics. The organization will have 2,874 employees, including 2,567 investigators, and its head will serve a single two-year term.

Yoon said he would “actively respect the recommendation results” and work to complete the remaining procedures so the agency can launch successfully on Oct. 2.

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I will actively respect the recommendation results and promptly propose one final candidate to the president, while making every effort to ensure that the Serious Crime Investigation Agency launches successfully on Oct. 2.