Kim Ji-yong, nominee to head the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, speaks to reporters as he arrives for his first day at the confirmation hearing preparation office in the Government Complex Seoul annex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Sept. 8.NEWS1
Former senior prosecutor Kim Ji-yong, the nominee to become the first chief of Korea's new Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, said Tuesday that he would "do everything possible" to help the fledgling agency get off the ground.
"Being nominated as the candidate for chief of the newly established Serious Crimes Investigation Agency amid major changes in the criminal justice system weighs heavily on me with a strong sense of responsibility," he told reporters as he arrived at a confirmation-hearing preparation office set up at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District.
The Serious Crimes Investigation Agency is a new agency, set to launch next month, created as part of President Lee Jae Myung's push to strip prosecutors of their investigative authority over major crimes and hand that power to a new stand-alone body.
Kim is a former chief of the criminal affairs department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
He was promoted to chief prosecutor rank in August 2020 under the Moon Jae-in administration, but was reassigned to a lower-profile post soon after the Yoon Suk Yeol administration took office in 2022 and resigned the following year.
President Lee made the announcement on Monday.
“I will faithfully prepare for the upcoming confirmation hearing," Kim said. "If the hearing process concludes smoothly and I am given the opportunity to serve, I will do my utmost to quickly establish the organization and ensure there are no gaps whatsoever in the country’s response to serious crimes.”
Asked whether his past opposition to the complete removal of prosecutors' investigative powers had changed since his time as a prosecutor, Kim avoided a direct answer, saying he would "faithfully explain that during the upcoming confirmation hearing process."
He gave similarly noncommittal responses to questions about whether appointing a Serious Crimes Investigation Agency chief with a prosecutorial background runs counter to the intent of prosecutorial reform, and about how he plans to cooperate with and check the police, saying only, "I'll explain that at the hearing."
A flag representing the prosecution service flies outside the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Nov. 12, 2025.KIM JONG-HO
Asked how he would secure the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency's political neutrality and investigative independence, Kim said fairness, neutrality and procedural justice are "very important" for the agency, again adding, "I'll just say that much for now and explain in detail during the confirmation hearing process."
About concerns that the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency has yet to complete its staffing, Kim reiterated: "This is a grave period, and I will do everything I can to help the agency settle in early, so that the public has no cause for concern and no one feels wronged during the investigation process."
Kim's recent nomination was recommended by Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung, who said he weighed "investigative expertise, fairness and neutrality, organizational management experience and leadership."
"The prosecution’s investigative expertise must be properly transferred to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, so rather than excluding candidates simply because they come from the prosecution, we based our decision on whether they have the qualifications to lead the agency while faithfully carrying out the purpose of prosecutorial reform," Yun said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
