ⓒYONHAP News

President Moon Jae-in has nominated a former judge to be the inaugural chief of the powerful Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials(CIO).

According to the presidential office on Wednesday, Kim Jin-wook, who currently serves as a senior researcher at the Constitutional Court, was chosen for the position.

After passing the national judicial examination, Kim was appointed a judge in 1995. He then worked as a lawyer at Kim and Chang, the country's largest law firm, from 1998 to 2010, before becoming a researcher at the Constitutional Court.

After his nomination was announced, Kim sought to ease concerns over the agency wielding absolute power, vowing to consider ways to return its authority to the public.

He said on Thursday that the authority granted to the CIO comes from the public, as do all forms of power according to the Constitution.

Addressing concerns over the agency infringing on political neutrality, Kim said his nomination has been vetted by the National Assembly and the presidential office, and that he still has to go through a parliamentary hearing.

Meanwhile, Moon nominated three-term ruling Democratic Party(DP) lawmaker Park Beom-kye as the next justice minister, signaling that the presidential office has accepted incumbent Minister Choo Mi-ae’s resignation that was submitted earlier this month.