Cheong Wa Dae set on Kim Ji-yong as first SCIO chief; Jeon Jong-min, Choi Jae-min tapped for top posts

As the Prosecution Service is abolished Friday and the Serious Crime Investigation Office — known by its Korean acronym SCIO — takes over major criminal investigations, attorney Jeon Jong-min has been designated as the agency's inaugural deputy director and attorney Choi Jae-min as the first head of its Seoul branch. Im Eun-jeong, who previously served as chief of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, will lead the Gwangju branch.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety's SCIO launch preparatory committee said Thursday that 1,900 positions — 66.1 percent of the agency's total authorized strength of 2,874 — had been provisionally filled ahead of Friday's opening. The main office filled 250 of its 396 authorized posts (63.1 percent), while the Seoul branch filled 750 of 1,089 (68.9 percent).

Jeon has been tapped as inaugural deputy director to lead the organization on an interim basis in the absence of a confirmed director. A former judge, Jeon served as a military legal officer before sitting on the bench at the Chuncheon District Court, Uijeongbu District Court and Seoul Administrative Court. Until recently he practiced at law firm KnC.

Choi, a former prosecutor, will serve as the first head of the Seoul branch. He worked at the Busan District Prosecutors' Office, the Gimcheon Branch of the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and held posts including chief of the Sangju Branch of the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office, head of the criminal fourth division at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, deputy chief of the Ansan Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, second deputy chief of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and first deputy chief of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office. He retired in 2024 after serving as head of the inspection division at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office.

Im, the former Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office chief, will head the Gwangju branch. Attorney Kim Hyeong-geun, who served as a special prosecutor's assistant on the Kim Keon Hee special prosecution team, will lead the Suwon branch, while attorney Moon Hong-ju, also a former special prosecutor's assistant on the same team, will head the Daejeon branch. Hong Jong-hee, an auditor at the Korean Bar Association Legal Aid Foundation, will lead the Daegu branch, and attorney Kim Gi-uk of law firm Jeongnyul will head the Busan branch.

Among the incoming regional branch chiefs, Choi Jae-min, Kim Hyeong-geun, Hong Jong-hee and Im Eun-jeong are former prosecutors, while Moon Hong-ju and Kim Gi-uk are former judges.

The preparatory committee said candidates were selected through career recruitment and special appointment procedures, with comprehensive consideration given to the experience and expertise required for each position, and that they are set to be formally appointed on the opening day following the relevant procedures.

To fill remaining vacancies, the committee plans to bring in outside specialists — including police officers, attorneys and accountants — through phased career recruitment. A joint task force involving the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the SCIO will be established to carry out the process. The committee also said it is reviewing additional special appointments from the prosecution service's staff.

The SCIO has agreed with the Korean National Police Agency and the Ministry of Justice to designate detention facilities and correctional institutions near each regional branch as holding facilities for suspects detained on serious criminal charges. The Seoul branch will use the detention facilities at the Suseo, Seongdong and Seocho police stations, as well as the Southern Detention Center as its correctional facility.

The Criminal Justice Information System will initially open with essential functions — including the transfer, receipt and assignment of serious criminal cases — while remaining functions such as case processing will go live in a second phase in December. Next year's budget has been set at 472.4 billion won ($348 million). Funds needed for the fourth quarter of this year are to be transferred from the Prosecution Service's budget.

The SCIO will hold its opening ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday at its main office in Jung-gu, Seoul.

Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday it plans to submit to the National Assembly a request for a confirmation hearing for Kim Ji-yong, its nominee for inaugural SCIO director. Hard-liners within the ruling camp had pushed back after Kim's nomination was proposed, labeling him a pro-Yoon prosecutor or a prosecution loyalist. President Lee Jae Myung said on his SNS account Wednesday that claims that Kim is a pro-Yoon prosecutor do not reflect the facts.