By Lee Kyung-min
President Moon Jae-in appointed Lee Geum-ro as vice justice minister and Bong Wook as deputy prosecutor general, Sunday.
The appointments follow the resignations last week of their predecessors _ Lee Chang-jae and Kim Joo-hyun.
Lee Chang-jae had been the acting justice minister for more than six months after former President Park Geun-hye appointee Justice Minister Kim Hyung-woong resigned last year following the emergence of the influence-peddling scandal in which Park was implicated.
Kim had been the acting prosecutor general for a week after former Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam, also a Park Geun-hye appointee, resigned four hours after President Moon appointed Cho Kuk as the new presidential secretary for civil affairs on May 15.
The appointment also came two days after former Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office head Lee Young-ryeol and the justice ministry’s criminal affairs deputy minister Ahn Tae-geun were demoted amid allegations of bribery and breach of the anti-graft Kim Young-ran Act.
The demotion came after President Moon ordered investigations of the two on May 17, following which the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and justice ministry launched inspection of the two.
The president’s order came after allegations emerged on May 15 that the two had an after-work gathering on April 21 during which they gave each other’s underlings envelopes containing 700,000 to 1 million won ($620-$890). The gathering, which came four days after former presidential secretary for civil affairs Woo Byung-woo and former President Park Geun-hye were indicted, was for appreciation of the prosecutors’ efforts in the months-long investigation.
Lee and Ahn offered to resign, but Cheong Wa Dae refused to accept their resignations, as doing so would halt the internal investigation and the figures involved would not become subject to any punitive measures.
A senior Cheong Wa Dae official said their resignations won’t be accepted until the inspections are concluded.
A 22-member inspection team requested 10 individuals present at the dinner to submit written explanations of the event.