Lee Moves Ahead With Kim Ji-yong Nomination for New Serious Crimes Agency

President Lee Jae Myung is moving forward with the nomination of former prosecutor Kim Ji-yong as the first head of South Korea’s Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, despite objections from some figures in the ruling bloc.

The presidential office said it plans to ask the National Assembly to hold a confirmation hearing for Kim as early as Thursday or Friday. The step restarts an appointment process that had been paused since mid-September while officials conducted additional vetting.

The timing is significant because the new agency and the Public Prosecution Service are due to begin operating Friday. Their launch is part of a sweeping reorganization of the criminal justice system that will abolish the existing prosecution service after 78 years and formally divide investigative and prosecutorial authority between separate bodies.

Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung recommended Kim on Sept. 7, and Lee nominated him the following day. The process then stalled as critics in the broader ruling camp called for the nomination to be withdrawn. They questioned whether a career prosecutor should lead an institution created to take investigative powers away from prosecutors and accused Kim of having ties to former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Relations and Communication Seong Ghi-hong said the additional review found no grounds to disqualify the nominee. Addressing the political criticism, the presidential office argued that Kim’s past record did not support claims that he was aligned with Yoon. It pointed to Kim’s order for a renewed investigation in 2021 into an alleged perjury case involving Yoon’s mother-in-law and noted that Kim was later moved out of a senior post after the Yoon administration took office.

The presidential office also defended the decision to consider a former prosecutor for the role, saying the selection should weigh the investigative expertise required to establish the agency quickly as a specialized body. Excluding candidates solely because of their professional background, it argued, could weaken the selection process.

Lee personally pushed back against criticism of Kim in social media posts between Wednesday night and early Thursday, reinforcing the administration’s intention to proceed.

The nomination now moves toward parliamentary scrutiny at a sensitive moment for the government’s prosecution reform program. The confirmation hearing is expected to focus not only on Kim’s record and political independence, but also on whether his leadership would advance the intended separation of investigation and prosecution. With the new institutions opening before their inaugural leadership is fully settled, the hearing process will be an early test of the overhaul’s credibility and implementation.