President Moon Jae-in on Monday nominated the chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, Yoon Seok-youl, as the nation’s new prosecutor general.
The presidential office said Moon revealed his choice after receiving a related briefing from Justice Minister Park Sang-ki.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet will pass a motion on Yoon’s nomination and send a request to the National Assembly that it hold a confirmation hearing for Yoon.
Once his nomination is confirmed, Yoon will become the second prosecutor-general to serve in the Moon Jae-in administration.
A prosecutor-general nominee must undergo a confirmation hearing but his or her nomination does not require parliamentary approval.
The term of current prosecutor-general, Moon Moo-il will end on July 24th.
Yoon served as the chief of the unit investigating allegations that the National Intelligence Service(NIS) launched a smear campaign during the 2012 presidential election. He was demoted to the head of the Yeoju branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office after a conflict with the government.
But in 2016, he was tapped as a senior member of a special prosecutor’s team probing the influence-peddling scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye’s longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil. And in 2017, Yoon was appointed as the chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.