Cheong Wa Dae Sends Nomination of Kim Ji-yong as Corruption Investigation Office Chief to National Assembly
Cheong Wa Dae will send official documents to the National Assembly on the 1st requesting a confirmation hearing for Kim Ji-yong, nominee to lead the newly created Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials Corruption (Corruption Investigation Office). The office is a new body tasked with investigating serious crimes such as corruption by senior public officials, and if Kim passes the hearing, he will be formally appointed as its first chief.
Yoon Ho-jung, Minister of Government Administration and Home Affairs, nominated Kim to the president for the post on the 7th of last month. President Lee Jae-myung ordered additional vetting of Kim a week after his nomination. Sung Ki-hong, Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Relations, said at a Cheong Wa Dae briefing on the 1st that the additional vetting found nothing different from the initial review.
Sung rebutted claims that Kim is a "pro-Yoon prosecutor," calling them entirely off the mark. "Excluding all prosecutors is not reform—it comes close to destruction in the name of reform," Sung said.
Kim was one of four candidates vetted by the recommendation committee for the Corruption Investigation Office chief—three from the prosecution and one from the judiciary. He was promoted to chief prosecutor in August 2020 while Choo Mi-ae was justice minister and took office as head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office criminal affairs division in June 2021. In July 2021, he ordered a renewed investigation into the perjury case involving Choi Eun-soon; in June 2022, he was demoted to a provincial post in the Yoon Suk-yeol government's first personnel reshuffle, and effectively resigned in August 2023.
With Cheong Wa Dae's submission of the hearing request, Kim's nomination process has moved into the National Assembly confirmation hearing stage. Given that the additional vetting produced no changes, observers say Kim is on track to be formally appointed by President Lee Jae-myung.
