[Yonhap Photo]
President Moon Jae-in revealed his strong will to push ahead with judicial reforms Thursday by selecting a liberal law professor advocating human rights as his senior aide who will supervise the office of state prosecutors accused of abusing power to support previous conservative rulers.
Cho Kuk, a 52-year-old professor at Seoul National University, was named the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs. The professor, seen as one of Moon's confidants, has been actively involved in a social and legal campaign to promote civil and human rights. He joined Moon's camp in the 2012 presidential race.
Moon, a former human rights lawyer, has promised to reform the office of prosecutors so that they would not intervene in political affairs. South Korean prosecutors control police and exercise a far-reaching legal influence with their chiefs under control by the president.
Cho vowed to eradicate deep-rooted wrong practices among prosecutors, saying they have abused as a slave to power. "Prosecutors should not be used as the administration's sword," he told reporters, adding they should be allowed to conduct an independent investigation.
"South Korean prosecutors have a strong authority, and there is a question of whether they have exercised such power properly," the professor said.
In a related move, Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam offered to resign, saying agony has plagued him during his investigation into jailed ex-president Park Geun-hye. The top prosecutor took office in December 2015, and his tenure was to expire on December 1 this year.
Cho Hyun-ock, a visiting professor at Seoul's Ehwa Womans University, became a top aide in charges of managing human resources at the presidential office.
Moon was in a hurry to form his cabinet for the quick transfer of leadership. His office plans to set up a policy coordination committee working as a de facto transition team.
Immediately after he took office on Wednesday, Moon selected South Jeolla Province Governor Lee Nak-yon, a journalist-turned four-term lawmaker, as prime minister, and Im Jong-seok, known for anti-government campus activities in the 1980s, as chief of presidential staff. Suh Hoon, 63, would head the National Intelligence Service, South Korea's main spy agency.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
