Ministry of Justice (South Korea)

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ; Korean: 법무부) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Government of South Korea that oversees the justice and legal affairs, protection of human rights, crime prevention and immigration control. It is headed by the minister of justice. The ministry contains organization and agency such as Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea and Korea Correctional Service. It is headquartered in Building 1 of the Gwacheon Government Complex [ko] in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.^[1][2] Established on July 17, 1948, the Ministry of Justice is the only ministry whose name has never been changed or altered in the history of the Republic of Korea.

Ministry of Justice

법무부
Logo of the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice headquarters in Gwacheon
Agency overview
Formed	July 17, 1948; 77 years ago (1948-07-17)
Jurisdiction	Government of South Korea
Headquarters	Building 1, Gwacheon Government Complex [ko], 47, Gwanmun-ro, Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
Minister responsible	Jeong Seong-ho [ko]
Deputy Minister responsible	Kim Seok-woo [ko]
Child agency	Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea
Website	www.moj.go.kr
Korean name
Hangul	법무부
Hanja	法務部
RR	Beommubu
MR	Pŏmmubu

Organization

According to the Decree on the Organization of Ministry of Justice and Institutions under its Jurisdiction, MOJ comprises the General Service Division, Legal Affairs Office, Criminal Affairs Bureau, Crime Prevention Policy Bureau, Human Rights Bureau, Korea Correctional Service, and Korea Immigration Service.^[3]

Leadership offices

• Minister
  • Inspector General
  • Spokesperson
  • Office of Policy and Planning
  • Policy Advisor to the Minister

• Vice Minister
  • General Services Division

Bureaus and services

• Planning & Coordination Bureau
• Legal Affairs Bureau
• Criminal Affairs Bureau
• Crime Prevention Policy Bureau
• Human Rights Bureau
• Korea Correctional Service
• Korea Immigration Service

Child agency

• Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea

List of ministers

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office			President	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Lee In	2 August 1948	5 June 1949	307 days	Syngman Rhee	[4]
2		Gwon Seung-ryeol	6 June 1949	21 May 1950	349 days		[4][5]
3		Lee Woo-ik	22 May 1950	22 November 1950	184 days		[4]
4		Kim Chun-yon	23 November 1950	6 May 1951	164 days		[4]
5		Cho Chin-man	7 May 1951	4 March 1952	302 days		[4]
6		Seo Sang-hwan [ko]	5 March 1952	29 June 1954	2 years, 116 days		[4]
7		Jo Yong-soon [ko]	30 June 1954	15 September 1955	1 year, 77 days		[4]
8		Lee Ho [ko]	16 September 1955	19 February 1958	2 years, 156 days		[4]
9		Hong Jin-ki	20 February 1958	23 March 1960	2 years, 32 days		[4]
10		Gwon Seung-ryeol	25 April 1960	19 August 1960	116 days	Heo Jeong (acting)	[4]
11		Jo Jae-chun [ko]	23 August 1960	2 May 1961	252 days	Yun Bo-seon	[4]
12		Lee Byoung-ha [ko]	3 May 1961	18 May 1961	15 days		[4]
13		Goh Won-jeung [ko]	20 May 1961	8 January 1962	234 days		[4]
14		Jo Byoung-il [ko]	9 January 1962	31 January 1963	1 year, 22 days	Park Chung-hee (acting)	[4]
15		Jang Young-soon [ko]	1 February 1963	21 April 1963	79 days		[4]
16		Min Bok-ki [ko]	22 April 1963	?????			[4]
17			?????	?????		Park Chung-hee
18			?????	25 September 1966
19		Kwon Oh-byoung [ko]	26 September 1966	20 May 1968	1 year, 237 days		[4]
20		Lee Ho [ko]	21 May 1968	20 December 1970	2 years, 213 days		[4]
21		Bae Young-ho [ko]	21 December 1970	3 June 1971	164 days		[4]
22		Shin Jik-soo [ko]	4 June 1971	2 December 1973	2 years, 181 days		[4]
23		Lee Bong-sung [ko]	3 December 1973	17 September 1974	288 days		[4]
24 25		Hwang San-duk [ko]	18 September 1974	3 December 1976	2 years, 76 days		[4]
26		Lee Sun-joong [ko]	4 December 1976	21 December 1978	2 years, 17 days		[4]
27		Kim Chi-yeol [ko]	22 December 1978	13 December 1979	356 days		[4]
28		Baek Sang-ki [ko]	14 December 1979	21 May 1980	159 days	Choi Kyu-hah	[4]
29		Oh Tak-keun [ko]	22 May 1980	?????		Chun Doo-hwan	[4]
30			?????	9 April 1981
31		Lee Jong-won [ko]	10 April 1981	20 May 1982	1 year, 40 days		[4]
32		Jung Chi-keun [ko]	21 May 1982	23 June 1982	33 days		[4]
33		Bae Myoung-in [ko]	24 June 1982	18 February 1985	2 years, 239 days		[4]
34		Kim Seok-hui [ko]	19 February 1985	15 July 1985	146 days		[4]
35		Kim Sung-ki [ko]	16 July 1985	25 May 1987	1 year, 313 days		[4]
36		Jung Hae-chang [ko]	26 May 1987	?????			[4]
37			?????	4 December 1988		Roh Tae-woo
38		Huh Hyoung-ku [ko]	5 December 1988	18 March 1990	1 year, 103 days		[4]
39		Lee Jong-nam [ko]	19 March 1990	26 May 1991	1 year, 68 days		[4]
40		Kim Ki-chun [ko]	27 May 1991	8 October 1992	1 year, 134 days		[4]
41		Lee Jung-woo	9 October 1992	25 February 1993	139 days		[4]
42		Park Hee-tae [ko]	26 February 1993	7 March 1993	9 days	Kim Young-sam	[4][6]
43		Kim Doo-Hee [ko]	8 March 1993	23 December 1994	1 year, 290 days		[4]
44		An Woo-man [ko]	24 December 1994	5 March 1997	2 years, 71 days		[4]
45		Choi Sang-yeop [ko]	6 March 1997	4 August 1997	151 days		[4]
46		Kim Jong-gu [ko]	5 August 1997	2 March 1998	209 days		[4]
47		Park Sang-chun [ko]	3 March 1998	23 May 1999	1 year, 81 days	Kim Dae-jung	[4]
48		Kim Tae-jung [ko]	24 May 1999	7 June 1999	14 days		[4]
49		Kim Jung-kil [ko]	8 June 1999	20 May 2001	1 year, 346 days		[4]
50		An Dong-soo [ko]	21 May 2001	23 May 2001	2 days		[4][7]
51		Choi Kyoung-won [ko]	24 May 2001	28 January 2002	249 days		[4]
52		Song Jeong-ho [ko]	29 January 2002	10 July 2002	162 days		[4]
53		Kim Jung-kil [ko]	11 July 2002	5 November 2002	117 days		[4]
54		Sim Sang-myoung [ko]	9 November 2002	26 February 2003	109 days		[4]
55		Kang Kum-sil	27 February 2003	29 July 2004	1 year, 153 days	Roh Moo-hyun	[4][8]
56		Kim Seung-kew	29 July 2004	29 June 2005	335 days		[4]
57		Chun Jung-bae	29 June 2005	26 July 2006	1 year, 27 days		[4]
58		Kim Sung-ho [ko]	30 August 2006	3 September 2007	1 year, 4 days		[4]
59		Chung Soung-jin [ko]	4 September 2007	29 February 2008	178 days		[4]
60		Kim Kyung-han [ko]	29 February 2008	29 September 2009	1 year, 213 days	Lee Myung-bak	[4]
61		Lee Kwi-nam [ko]	30 September 2009	10 August 2011	1 year, 314 days		[4]
62		Kwon Jae-jin [ko]	11 August 2011	10 March 2013	1 year, 211 days		[4]
63		Hwang Kyo-ahn	11 March 2013	13 June 2015	2 years, 94 days	Park Geun-hye	[9]
64		Kim Hyun-woong [ko]	9 June 2015	29 November 2016	1 year, 173 days		[10]
65		Park Sang-ki	19 July 2017	8 September 2019	2 years, 51 days	Moon Jae-in	[9][11][12]
66		Cho Kuk	9 September 2019	14 October 2019	35 days		[9][13]
—		Kim Oh-soo (acting)	14 October 2019	1 January 2020	79 days
67		Choo Mi-ae	2 January 2020	27 January 2021	1 year, 25 days
68		Park Beom-kye	28 January 2021	9 May 2022	1 year, 101 days
69		Han Dong-hoon	17 May 2022	21 December 2023	1 year, 218 days	Yoon Suk Yeol
70		Park Sung-jae	20 February 2024	4 June 2025	1 year, 104 days		[14]

See also

• South Korea portal
• Law portal

• Ministry of justice
• Politics of South Korea