Jung Hyun Lee Appointed Acting Prosecutor General to Lead Launch of Prosecution Office

Reassignment to Deputy Prosecutor General Post Left Vacant by Jaehyun Koo's Resignation
Ministry of Justice: "Ensuring Smooth Launch of the Public Prosecution Office"
Apology in April Over North Korea Remittance Investigation Methods

The Ministry of Justice has reassigned Jung Hyun Lee, Chief Prosecutor of the Suwon High Prosecutors' Office (27th class of Judicial Research and Training Institute), as the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. This personnel measure aims to fill the vacancy in the leadership of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, left open by the resignation of former acting Deputy Prosecutor General Jaehyun Koo, ahead of the launch of the Public Prosecution Office scheduled for October 2.

Jung Hyun Lee, Chief Prosecutor of Suwon High Prosecutors' Office. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On the 22nd, the Ministry of Justice announced, "Chief Prosecutor Lee will be reassigned as the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office effective the 23rd," adding, "This is to resolve the vacancy caused by the resignation of the Deputy Prosecutor General and to ensure smooth preparations for the launch of the Public Prosecution Office."

Former acting Deputy Prosecutor General Koo submitted his resignation on July 31, the day the National Assembly passed the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act abolishing prosecutors' direct investigative and supplementary investigative powers, stating that he "felt a strong sense of responsibility." Since then, Kyu Hyung Park, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, has served as acting Prosecutor General.

Chief Prosecutor Lee has previously served as Inspector General at the Ministry of Justice, the 1st Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and Director of the Public Investigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. In 2020, as the 1st Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, he led the investigation into the so-called "Channel A case," which put him at odds with then Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol. Although he was promoted to Chief Prosecutor during the Moon Jae-in administration, he was reassigned to the Judicial Research and Training Institute in May 2022, right after the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, and was appointed Chief Prosecutor of Suwon High Prosecutors' Office in November last year.

At a National Assembly hearing in April regarding the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case, Chief Prosecutor Lee was criticized for the provision of outside food to Lee Hwa-young, former Vice Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province, and others during the investigation. He acknowledged it as a "very inappropriate investigative practice" and expressed that he "deeply reflects and feels very sorry."

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