The government has nominated Kim Ji-yong, a lawyer with a background in the prosecution service, as the first commissioner of the newly established Serious Crimes Investigation Agency.

The agency is being set up as part of a reorganisation of criminal justice that separates investigation from prosecution. It is to take on direct investigation of serious offences such as corruption and economic crime, while a separate body handles indictments.

The nomination of a former prosecutor has drawn both the assessment that it prioritises continuity of practice and the view that its fit with the purpose of the reorganisation warrants discussion.

In practice, staffing is the crux. A new agency's early capacity depends heavily on where it obtains investigators and accounting and digital-forensic personnel. The proportion seconded or transferred from the prosecution, the police and the financial and tax authorities will shape its character.

Case-transfer criteria also remain to be settled. Observers have repeatedly noted the need for detailed rules on how much of what the prosecution previously investigated directly will pass to the new body, and how duplicate investigations are to be avoided.

The nominee will go through a confirmation hearing, where his plans for running the organisation and his position on its investigative scope are expected to be set out.