President Park Geun-hye on Sunday named Kim Hyun-woong, chief of the Seoul Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, as the next justice minister, completing her partial Cabinet shake-up initiated in the wake of a recent political scandal that involved several close confidants, including the former prime minister.

Park’s nomination fills the ministerial post vacated by Hwang Kyo-ahn, whom the president tapped as prime minister. Hwang officially took the nation’s second-highest post on Thursday after obtaining parliamentary endorsement.

“Justice Minister nominee Kim Hyun-woong is the right man to establish the rule of law and to eradicate the corruption widespread throughout society judging by his professionalism and leadership built while serving various posts within the prosecution and the Justice Ministry,” said Park’s spokesman Min Kyung-wook.

Kim Hyun-woong (Yonhap)
Kim Hyun-woong (Yonhap)

Kim was nominated with approval from new Prime Minister Hwang on Sunday, he added. The new justice minister does not require parliamentary approval, but will be subject to a confirmation hearing.

Kim 56, joined the prosecution in 1990 and served several major posts in the prosecution including director of the special criminal investigation team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. He was also named vice justice minister in late 2013 and worked under then-Justice Minister Hwang for more than a year.

Park may have tapped Kim, who is younger than the incumbent Prosecutor General Kim Jin-tae, due to limited options, observers say. The president may have wanted to keep the tradition of having the justice minister older than the top prosecutor, but ended up naming Kim to avoid criticism from the main opposition lawmakers questioning ethical misdeeds of other senior candidates hired by major law firms after their retirement from the law enforcement agency.

Kim’s experience in special criminal investigations may also have influenced Park, as she has been pushing for massive reform drive aimed at rooting out wrongdoings in the public and private sector.

By Cho Chung-un ()


koreaherald@heraldcorp.com