Mr. Gyeong Han Kim, minister nominee for Ministry of Justice, age 64, is widely viewed as a good match for President Lee for his conservative leanings. In addition, he is second to none in terms of his expertise in prosecutorial and administrative affairs.

His friends and colleagues back up such evaluation. Yong Woo Jaegal, former Chief of Criminal Affairs of Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, said, "When he was a prosecutor, he seemed firmly guarded against leftist ideals and he could be favored by business groups because he prefers gradual change”. He went on to say, "Among his peers, Mr. Kim is known for his strong leadership with affable manners but he is never hesitant to speak up against injustice.

“He is straightforward, telling his corporate clients what is possible and what is not, and he is not the type of attorney who will flatter or fawn on his clients just to please them," says Shin Young Moo, who has worked with Mr. Kim for the last six years as representative lawyer of Shin & Kim. He also described Mr. Kim as a person who is "faithful to principles.” While he is a firm believer of market economy and rule of law, Mr. Kim has also a great concern of basic human rights according to Mr. Shin. Mr. Kim was, in fact, very active in college as a key member of “Korea Humanist Association”, a student activists group led by Seoul Nation University students and made a significant contribution to the establishment of the Human Rights Act while he was deputy minister of Justice.

Mr. Kim worked for the Prosecution for three decades until he joined Shin & Kim as a representative lawyer. Exempt from military service, Mr. Kim started his career as junior prosecutor and was mainly assigned to public security and administrative affairs rather than special investigations. Not many of the cases worked on Mr. Kim at that time are publicly known as they are, in the most part, related to ideology or political offense. However, he assumed many important posts within the Ministry of Justice, such as Director of the Prosecution Bureau (MOJ), Director of the Social Protection Bureau (MOJ), Chief of the Policy Management Office (MOJ), Director-General of Trial & Litigation department (SPO), Chief of the Correction Bureau (MOJ), and Deputy Minister (MOJ). When he was Director of the Prosecution Bureau at the Ministry of Justice, he was responsible for human resources and budgeting of the prosecution. Thanks to this experience, he was able to get closely acquainted with other prosecutors across the country.

Mr. Kim is familiar with Lee Myung-Jae, the former Prosecutor General who went to the same high school and college as Mr. Kim. They passed the bar exam at the same time while working together at Korea Exchange Bank. He also has close relationships with other high school and Seoul Nation University alumni including Lee Gun Wung, representative lawyer of Shin & Kim and Chun Ky Hong, Chairman of the Korean Bar Association.

* Source: Hye Jung Mun, Hankyung Daily (February 25, 2008)