Yoon appoints vice justice minister as prosecutor general

Aug 12, 2024, 10:30 am

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Vice Justice Miniter Shim Woo-jung speaks to reporters outside the Justice Ministry in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, after being nominated as the country’s next prosecutor general on Aug. 11, 2024./ Source: Yonhap News

AsiaToday reporter Chun Hyun-bin

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday incumbent Vice Minister of Justice Shin Woo-jung to be the new prosecutor general. Speaking to reporters at the justice ministry’s headquarters in Gwacheon, south of Gyeonggi Province, Shim said he feels “a heavy sense of responsibility” and that he would “do his best to restore public trust in the prosecution service.”

Regarding the prosecution’s ongoing probe into first lady Kim Keon-hee, Shim said investigators should adhere to the established procedure and principles.

During a press briefing on Sunday afternoon, Chung Jin-suk, presidential chief of staff, said Shim has shown outstanding capabilities in major areas of the justice ministry and the prosecution. “With his reasonable leadership, Shim has strong trust among the members of the prosecution. He has good knowledge of criminal procedures and the prosecution system, and has a firm belief about the establishment of the rule of law,” Chung said. “Shim is regarded as a suitable figure to lead the prosecution to ensure its primary role in upholding the Constitution and protecting people,” he added.

Born in 1971, Shim studied law at Seoul National University and passed the national bar exam in 1994. He completed the Judicial Research and Training Institute as the 26th class, and is one year senior to the current Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok.

Shim is the son of Shim Dae-pyong, former governor of South Chungcheong Province and member of the 17th and 18th National Assembly.

Shim began his career as a prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office in 2000. Over the past two decades, he has held various positions under the Moon Jae-in and Yoon Suk-yeol administrations, including deputy chief prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office and deputy minister for planning and coordination at the Ministry of Justice. In 2017, he had worked with Yoon Suk-yeol for a while as the first criminal director of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office when Yoon was appointed as the chief of the district prosecutor’s office. In 2020, when former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and then Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol were in conflict, Shim had assisted Choo as the head of the justice ministry’s planning and coordination office.

He was tapped to be the vice justice minister in January this year.

After going through a parliamentary confirmation hearing, Shim will become the second prosecutor general under the Yoon administration.

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