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From left: Cho Eun-seok, appointed to lead the insurrection probe; Min Jung-ki, assigned to the Kim Keon-hee case; and Lee Myung-hyun, named to investigate Pvt. Chae’s death. / Source: Yonhap News

President Lee Jae-myung has appointed three special prosecutors to lead investigations into high-profile cases involving allegations of insurrection, First Lady Kim Keon-hee, and the death of a young soldier, just nine days after taking office.

According to the Democratic Party on June 13, the presidential office officially notified the National Assembly of the appointments at 11:09 p.m. the previous night.

Cho Eun-seok, former acting chair of the Board of Audit and Inspection, has been named to lead the insurrection probe. Min Jung-ki, former chief judge of the Seoul Central District Court, will investigate allegations involving Kim Keon-hee. Meanwhile, Lee Myung-hyun, former senior military prosecutor, has been appointed to investigate the suspicious death of Pvt. Chae Sang-byeong.

Cho, appointed for the insurrection case, previously served as Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office chief and head of the Judicial Research and Training Institute under the Moon Jae-in administration. He also led the joint police-prosecution probe into the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster while serving as chief of the criminal division at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.

Min, tapped to investigate First Lady Kim, is affiliated with the progressive judges' group “Our Law Society.” He served as a close aide to former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su and headed the task force that investigated the alleged judicial “blacklist” during the Moon administration.

Lee, assigned to the Chae case, is a former military judge who led the 2022 investigation into alleged military service corruption involving the son of former Grand National Party leader Lee Hoi-chang.

Cho and Min were recommended by the Democratic Party, while Lee was nominated by the Rebuilding Korea Party.

With the appointments now made, each special prosecutor will have up to 20 days to organize their investigation teams, after which the probes are expected to begin in earnest by early July.

The Democratic Party had spearheaded the passage of the three special prosecutor bills in the National Assembly on June 5, one day after Lee took office. President Lee signed them into law during a Cabinet meeting on June 10, marking the first legislative action of his administration.