Kim Ji-yong heads to confirmation hearing — but can he survive the hard-left onslaught?

Cases from his prosecutorial chain of command — involving Jeong Jin-woong and Lee Gwang-cheol — set to dominate hearing

His shifting stance on prosecution reform also expected to draw scrutiny

Gwangju regional chief Im Eun-jeong publicly criticizes nominee from within the agency

Calls grow to fill leadership vacuum for the fledgling investigative body

Kim Ji-yong, nominee for inaugural chief of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. [Yonhap]

A National Assembly confirmation hearing for Kim Ji-yong, the nominee to lead the newly established Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, appears set for next week — a milestone that comes after Cheong Wa Dae threw its weight behind him following additional vetting. The hearing will put Kim in the hot seat as hard-line lawmakers aligned with the ruling camp openly oppose his appointment, branding him a "pro-Yoon prosecutor" and an opponent of prosecution reform, raising questions about how he will defend his record and articulate his stance.

According to legal and political circles Wednesday, the National Assembly's Interior and Safety Committee was set to hold a plenary session that day and vote to approve a hearing schedule placing Kim's confirmation before the committee on Oct. 14. The process had stalled for weeks after Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung formally recommended Kim on Sept. 7. President Lee Jae Myung did not submit the confirmation request to the National Assembly until Friday, more than a month later, after additional background checks were completed, formally setting the hearing in motion.

The Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, which launched Friday after the Prosecution Service was abolished, is responsible for investigating seven categories of serious crime — corruption, economic offenses, defense-industry violations, insurrection and treason, narcotics, cybercrime and obstruction of justice. It began operations under acting chief Jeon Jong-min, the agency's deputy director, as no permanent head had been confirmed. Jeon's own appointment, along with those of the six regional agency chiefs, was announced only the day before the launch. Legal circles have voiced growing concern over the continued leadership vacuum at an agency tasked with handling major criminal investigations at a time when the country's criminal justice system has undergone a sweeping overhaul.

The entrance to Renaissance Square in Jung-gu, Seoul, where the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency is headquartered. [Yonhap]

The primary reason Kim's nomination dragged on was fierce opposition from hard-line lawmakers in the ruling camp. They have labeled him a "pro-Yoon prosecutor" and questioned whether he genuinely supports prosecution reform — a line of attack expected to dominate the confirmation hearing.

Kim drew their ire in part because of a position he took in 2022, when he was serving as head of the criminal division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. At the time, he publicly opposed legislation that would have stripped prosecutors of virtually all investigative authority — a bill critics dubbed "complete deprivation of prosecutorial investigative powers." Hard-line ruling-camp lawmakers argue that stance disqualifies him from leading an agency built on the principle of separating investigation from indictment. Opposition lawmakers have also sharpened their criticism, contending that Kim changed his position on prosecution reform only after being named as the nominee.

Kim is expected to counter by pointing out that the justice minister who promoted him to prosecutor general rank was Choo Mi-ae, now governor of Gyeonggi Province and herself considered a hard-liner within the ruling camp. At the time, the Ministry of Justice said in a press release that it had "actively prioritized prosecutors who quietly fulfilled their duties in criminal and trial divisions, and selected certified specialists in criminal law directly connected to people's livelihoods."

Hard-line ruling-camp lawmakers have also built their case against Kim around specific cases handled during his time in prosecutorial chain-of-command roles, and those cases are expected to resurface at the hearing. The most prominent involves the abuse-of-authority assault case against former prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong.

In 2020, while Kim was serving as deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, Jeong was indicted on charges of abuse-of-authority assault after allegedly attacking then-Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon — now an independent lawmaker — during a search and seizure of Han's mobile phone. Ruling-camp lawmakers claim Kim was in the chain of command and was involved in the decision to indict. Kim acknowledges he was in the chain of command but says he opposed the indictment.

There are also claims that Kim, during his tenure as head of the criminal division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, was involved in the indictment of former Cheong Wa Dae civil affairs secretary Lee Gwang-cheol and others in connection with the illegal travel ban imposed on former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-eui. Kim maintains he was not the final decision-maker and that he was skeptical of the indictment. He has said that of the four people charged in connection with that case, he supported indicting three but took the position that indicting Lee was an overreach.

Im Eun-jeong, chief of the Gwangju regional Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and a former head of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, has publicly criticized Kim, alleging that he ignored her complaint in 2018 — when Kim was heading the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's first inspection division — asking for an investigation into dereliction of duty by the inspector then handling a sexual assault case involving the brother-in-law of a lawmaker, identified as former prosecutor Jin Dong-gyun. The public rebuke from a sitting senior official within the agency itself has added an unusual dimension to the confirmation battle.

How Kim plans to stabilize an agency that launched without even basic infrastructure in place is also expected to be a flashpoint at the hearing. Observers say he will need to spell out concrete measures to prevent unrest among personnel transferred from the former prosecution service while ensuring the fairness and independence of serious-crime investigations.

Speaking to reporters outside his hearing preparation office Friday, Kim said: "If given the opportunity to serve as chief of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, I will do my utmost to embody the spirit of prosecution reform. I will devote all my energy to ensuring the agency swiftly establishes itself as an investigative body fully equipped to handle serious crimes and dedicated to protecting the rights and interests of the public and victims."

bell@heraldcorp.com