Yoon appoints new prosecutor general, chief antitrust regulator

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday appointed the new prosecutor general and chief antitrust regulator.

The appointments of Lee One-seok as prosecutor general and Han Ki-jeong as chief of the Fair Trade Commission came after the National Assembly missed two deadlines to adopt confirmation hearing reports for the nominees amid objections from the main opposition Democratic Party.

Parliamentary consent is not required for the appointment of senior officials other than the prime minister.

Lee and Han are the 12th and 13th people, respectively, to be appointed without either a confirmation hearing or the adoption of a confirmation hearing report since the launch of the Yoon administration in May.

Yoon told reporters as he arrived for work Friday that he planned to appoint the two later in the day.

"The government's formation has been long delayed, and I believe the people have already made their decisions on these people's qualifications and competence through the confirmation hearings," he said.

Yoon later presented letters of appointment to both officials at the presidential office.

hague@yna.co.kr
(END)