New Justice Minister Nominee: Kim Seungwon, Two-Term Democratic Party Lawmaker and Former Judge

President Lee Jaemyung has nominated Kim Seungwon, a former judge and a current lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, as the new Minister of Justice.

Nominee Kim is a member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in the National Assembly, serving as the Democratic Party’s senior secretary, and has spearheaded the passage of the Criminal Procedure Act amendment aimed at fully abolishing the prosecution’s supplementary investigation rights.

On August 30, Kang Hunsik, Chief Presidential Secretary, stated, “Nominee Kim is a former judge and currently serves as the senior secretary for the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in the National Assembly. Given his deep understanding of the aims behind criminal justice system reform, we expect him to prioritize protecting victims’ rights and to swiftly establish the new criminal justice system.”

Nominee Kim was born in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. He graduated from Suseong High School in Gyeonggi and the School of Law at Seoul National University, passing the 38th national bar exam. He began his career as a judge at the Jeonju District Court in 2002 and later served as a judge at the Suwon District Court, before entering private practice as an attorney in 2009.

In 2018, he was appointed as an administrator at the Presidential Secretariat, and in 2019, he served as a Special Commissioner for Public Communication at the Presidential Committee for Balanced National Development.

He entered the National Assembly after being elected in Suwon-gap, Gyeonggi Province as the Democratic Party candidate in the 21st general election in 2020. He was re-elected in the same constituency in the 22nd general election in 2024.

Within the National Assembly, he has been active mainly in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. In the latter half of the 21st National Assembly, he served as a member of this committee, as well as on the Democratic Party’s Committee on Countermeasures against Prosecutorial Dictatorship and Political Suppression, and as Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee.

If Kim is appointed as minister, he will directly lead follow-up reforms of the criminal justice system at the Ministry of Justice, including the abolition of the prosecution office set for October 2 and the establishment of both the Public Prosecution Service and the High-Crime Investigation Agency.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.