Kim Oh-soo (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 김오수, born January 9, 1963) is a South Korean prosecutor and the

Prosecutor General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. He previously served as the Deputy Minister of Justice from 2018 until 2020, and briefly the interim Minister of Justice following the resignation of

Cho Kuk Cho Kuk (Korean: 조국, born 6 April 1965) is a South Korean jurist and politician. He was the Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs from 2017 to 2019 in the Moon Jae-in Cabinet. On 9 September 2019, President Moon Jae-in appoin ...

. Kim was born in Hongnong-eup,

Yeonggwang Yeonggwang County (''Yeonggwang-gun'') is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Speciality Yeonggwang is a large producer of a fish, the small yellow croaker which are sometimes given by Korean people as a gift to others. It is cal ...

South Jeolla South Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollanam-do''; ), also known as Jeonnam, is a province of South Korea. South Jeolla has a population of 1,902,324 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Honam region at the southwestern tip of the Korean ...

in 1963. He studied at

Hongnong Secondary School Hongnong (弘農) may refer to: * Hongnong Commandery, a commandery of imperial China from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty. * Yang Wu Wu (), also referred to as Huainan (), Hongnong (), Southern Wu (), or Yang Wu (楊吳), was one of the Ten Kingd ...

and

Gwangju Daedong High School Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

before attending

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the thr ...

where he studied law. After qualifying for the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

in 1988, Kim started his career at

Incheon District Prosecutor's Office Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

in 1994. He gained public intentions when he investigated corruption allegation of the former Chancellor of

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the " SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in t ...

Jung Chang-young Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...

in 2005. He also investigated alleged corruption of

DSME Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd ( ko, 대우조선해양; abbreviated DSME) is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung. History On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (M ...

and Hyosung in 2009. He has also been working at the Ministry of Justice for a long time, where he worked together with

Park Sang-ki Park Sang-ki (Korean: 박상기, born 1952) is South Korean educator, jurist, prosecutor and politician who served as the Minister of Justice under Moon Jae-in Cabinet from May 2017 to September 2019. Born in Muan, Park attended for University o ...

and

Choo Mi-ae Choo Mi-ae (; born 23 October 1958) is a South Korean politician who served as the Minister of Justice as well as five-term parliamentarian and 3rd leader of Democratic Party. She is the first woman to hold the post after Kang Kum-sil who w ...

— all were the Justice Minister under the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...

. In 2018, he was appointed the Deputy Minister of Justice, replacing

Lee Keum-ro Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

. Following the resignation of controversial Cho Kuk, Kim became the interim Justice Minister until Choo Mi-ae was appointed to the position. On 3 May 2021, Kim was nominated the Prosecutor General after the resignation of

Yoon Seok-youl Yoon Suk-yeol (; born 18 December 1960) is a South Korean politician, former public prosecutor and lawyer who has been serving as the 13th and current president of South Korea since 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as the prosecutor g ...

who has been in conflict with the Moon Jae-in government. He favours the prosecution reform of the Moon government, such as establishing the

Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (), or CIO in short, is an independent agency of the South Korean government responsible for prosecuting crimes and investigating allegations involving "high-ranking officials" or th ...

. On 31 May, the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

voted in favour of his appointment, despite the boycott of the oppositions. He married Cheon Kye-sook; the couple has a son and a daughter. Kim resigned from his post and submitted his resignation to outgoing President Moon on May 6, days before Moon left office. Kim resigned in protest against the outgoing Democratic Party's legislation to strip the prosecutor service of investigative powers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Oh-soo 1963 births Living people Prosecutors General of South Korea