4 candidates shortlisted for first head of new serious crimes agency

The field of candidates for the inaugural head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency has been narrowed to four.

The agency's candidate recommendation committee met Friday at Government Complex Seoul and voted to recommend four nominees to the Minister of Interior and Safety: attorneys Kim Gwan-jeong, Kim Ji-yong and Moon Hong-ju, and Lee Yun-je, a law professor at Myongji University.

The Serious Crimes Investigation Agency is set to take over investigative functions from the Prosecution Service and handle nine categories of serious crimes. It is scheduled to launch after the Prosecution Service is abolished in October.

The committee conducted in-depth deliberations on candidates submitted through a public nomination process that ran from Aug. 19 to Aug. 26. It evaluated nominees on their expertise in serious-crime investigations, fairness, awareness of human rights, and the leadership needed to steer a newly established organization, before selecting the four finalists.

Committee Chair Lee Ju-won said all members approached the review with a deep sense of responsibility and conducted it fairly, with the goal of finding the right person to properly realize the spirit of prosecutorial reform — namely, the separation of investigation and indictment. He added that the committee recommended the best candidates after weighing the range of views submitted through the public nomination process alongside the qualities and capabilities required of the agency's first director.

A total of 23 people were put forward through the public nomination process.

Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung excluded 12 of them who had not consented to the screening procedure, then presented the remaining 11 to the recommendation committee as eligible candidates.

Yun said he was grateful for the committee's diligent work in conducting a rigorous review amid strong public interest. He pledged to fully respect the committee's recommendations, move quickly to propose one final candidate to the president, and ensure all follow-up steps are in place for the agency's successful launch on Oct. 2.

The interior minister will formally recommend one of the four candidates to the president for appointment as agency director. The nominee will then go through a National Assembly confirmation hearing before the president makes the final appointment.