z

President Moon Jae-in named former Vice Justice Minister Kim Oh-soo as the new chief of South Korea's prosecution service, Cheong Wa Dae said.

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye recommended Kim, who was a veteran prosecutor, for the position that has been vacant for two months since Yoon Seok-youl stepped down. The president accepted the recommendation, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.

Kim is required to go through the National Assembly's confirmation hearing, for which a date has yet to be set.

He served as vice justice minister from 2018-2020 under the Moon administration.

The nominee is expected to fulfill his duty so that the prosecution can be reborn as an organization desired by the people, on top of the work to stabilize it, Park said in a press briefing.

In his own statement, Kim said he feels a "sense of heavy responsibility" as he is being nominated to the post at a "hard and difficult time."

The prosecution service has suffered a tumultuous period since the launch of the liberal Moon administration, which has pushed for its reform amid a widespread view that it has excessive authority and power.

Yoon resigned abruptly in early March apparently in protest against a proposal by some ruling Democratic Party lawmakers to create another non-prosecution body specializing in probing "serious crimes." He had more than four months left in his two-year tenure.

Last week, a government-private committee on recommending candidates to become the new top prosecutor sent a shortlist of four figures, including Kim, to the justice minister. (Yonhap)