Prosecutor Moon Chan-seok, a Leading 'Specialist' in the Prosecution, Resigns as Gwangju District Chief... Retaliatory Personnel Move Targeting Chief Prosecutor Lee Sung-yoon

Moon Chan-seok, Chief Prosecutor of Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Moon Chan-seok, Chief Prosecutor of Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office (age 59, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 24), regarded as a leading 'specialist' within the prosecution, announced his resignation on the 7th.

In February, at a meeting of chief prosecutors, he publicly criticized Lee Sung-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (age 58, class 23), who had defied Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. On the same day, in a personnel reshuffle carried out by the Ministry of Justice, Moon was demoted to Planning Director at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

The Planning Director position at the Judicial Research and Training Institute is typically assigned to deputy prosecutors at the level of deputy chief prosecutors who are newly promoted to chief prosecutor. Having openly spoken 'truthfully' to Lee, who ignored the prosecution's command structure and disobeyed Prosecutor General Yoon's orders backed by the current administration's full trust, has apparently resulted in this personnel retaliation.

During his time as a frontline prosecutor, Moon was recognized as a top expert in investigating securities and financial crimes. In 2013, he served as the inaugural head of the Securities Crime Joint Investigation Unit newly established at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and in 2015, as the second deputy chief prosecutor when the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office was designated as a financial crime-focused office, he oversaw financial crime investigations.

Nicknamed the 'Yeouido Grim Reaper,' he was selected in 2016 as the first-ever Level 1 Certified Specialist Prosecutor, known as the 'Black Belt,' while serving as the head of the Suncheon branch office.

In 2017, while working as deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, he led the investigation team probing former President Lee Myung-bak's suspected real ownership of DAS.

After his promotion to chief prosecutor in 2018, he served as head of the Planning and Coordination Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, assisting Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il and representing the prosecution's stance during the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution. However, those around the prosecution believe that at that time, Moon had fallen out of favor with the current administration.