Prosecutor general nominee Moon Moo-il vowed Monday that if appointed, he will work to restore public trust in the prosecution long criticized for its perceived political bias.

During a parliamentary confirmation hearing, Moon stressed that he would ensure the prosecution's political neutrality and make its investigation procedures "transparent, right and open."

"I am well-aware that citizens have great concerns regarding the prosecution's political neutrality and transparency (in its investigations)," Moon said during his opening remarks. "I will ensure that prosecutors completely remain politically neutral and pursue only truth in their probes."

Reforming the prosecution is one of President Moon Jae-in's key election pledges. 


The liberal president has vowed to address prosecutors' monopoly of the authority to investigate and indict criminals by empowering the police with the right to carry out independent probes. Currently, police can conduct their investigations only under the prosecution's supervision.

The nominee, however, said that the prosecution has to retain its authority to carry out probes in certain cases, including major corruption scandals.

"It is not easy (for the prosecution) to determine whether to indict a criminal only based on the records of the police investigation," he said. "If the records are insufficient or wrong, the prosecution should be able to carry out additional probes to complement or rectify them."

The nominee also said that he would seek to strengthen the protection of human rights in all of the prosecution's investigation processes, and ensure state prosecutors' integrity, as some investigators had been embroiled in corruption cases, such as bribery.

"I will ensure that the prosecution will establish procedural fairness by having it abide by the legitimate investigation procedures," he said. (Yonhap)