Four finalists chosen to lead South Korea’s new major-crimes investigation agency, Baek Hae-ryong excluded

South Korea has narrowed the field for the first chief of its new Major Crimes Investigation Agency to four candidates, but Baek Hae-ryong, a police superintendent known for raising allegations of pressure in a customs drug investigation, did not make the final group.

The agency’s recommendation committee met on September 4 and agreed to submit four names to Interior Minister Yoon Ho-joong. The candidates are former Suwon High Prosecutors’ Office chief Kim Kwan-jung, former Chuncheon District Prosecutors’ Office chief Kim Ji-yong, Myongji University law professor Lee Yun-je and lawyer Moon Hong-joo, a former presiding judge who served as an aide to a special prosecutor investigating the Kim Keon Hee case.

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Among the 23 candidates received through public nominations, we examined the 11 who agreed to screening, assessing their legal qualifications as well as the expertise and experience needed to perform the agency chief’s duties and the ability to lead the organization stably. We selected four candidates unanimously.

Committee chair Lee Joo-won said the panel reviewed 11 candidates who agreed to be screened from 23 people nominated by the public. It assessed their legal eligibility, expertise, experience and ability to lead the new organization stably. The four candidates were selected unanimously.

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We agreed that it would not be desirable to uniformly exclude candidates with prosecutorial experience at the recommendation stage.

Lee said committee members agreed that candidates with prosecutorial backgrounds should not automatically be excluded. He said the panel chose four names, although the law allows at least three, to preserve diversity among the candidates and cited a previous case in which four candidates were recommended for prosecutor general.

The interior minister is expected to select one final candidate and propose that person to the president. The nominee will then face a parliamentary confirmation hearing before the president makes the appointment. The agency is scheduled to launch on October 2, when the prosecution service is abolished. It will take over investigative functions and handle supplementary investigations into seven major crimes, including corruption, economic crimes and narcotics. The chief will serve a single two-year term, leading an organization of 2,874 people, including 2,567 investigators.

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We will actively respect the recommendation committee’s decision, promptly propose one final candidate to the president and make every effort to ensure the agency launches successfully on October 2.