Seoul Southern District Prosecutor Park Soon-chul Announces Resignation: "Politics Has Overwhelmed the Prosecution"

On the morning of the 22nd, posted on the prosecution's internal network, "I am now about to step down from the prosecutor position"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Park Soon-chul, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (56, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 24), announced his resignation on the 22nd.

On the morning of the same day, Park posted a message titled "Position on the Lime Scandal" on the internal prosecution network Epros bulletin board, stating, "Politics has overshadowed the prosecution," and "I am now going to step down from my position as a prosecutor."

He said, "Regarding the Lime Asset Management scandal, which caused damage worth about 1.5 trillion won to many people, the essence is that Kim OO (Kim Bong-hyun) is under investigation and trial for embezzlement and fraud amounting to about 100 billion won," adding, "Although the lobbying incident is only a part of the process, ahead of the National Assembly audit, Kim OO’s two statements have intensified distrust and suspicion toward the Lime investigation, leading to a worrying situation where distrust in the prosecution is spreading."

He continued, "As the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office investigating this case, I can no longer remain silent about the prosecution being portrayed so wrongly," and said, "In a situation where the political circles and media continue to criticize according to their own interests, I believe that no matter what investigation results the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office Lime investigation team presents, its fairness will inevitably be doubted."

Park refuted the suspicions raised about the prosecution's investigation into the Lime scandal point by point.

He explained, "Since the prosecutor corruption was first revealed through Kim Bong-hyun’s statement, there was no report to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and regarding the investigation of opposition party politicians' corruption, the former Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office prepared meeting reports during biweekly regular meetings around May and reported them to the Prosecutor General," adding, "Since then, the investigation has progressed considerably, and on August 31, the investigation status was reported to the new Anti-Corruption Department head and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Both the current and former investigation teams, including myself, have naturally been conducting the investigation, so there can be no suspicion about this part."

He added, "According to the Minister of Justice’s investigation directive, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office must independently conduct the investigation without receiving investigation directives from the Prosecutor General regarding the raised suspicions," and said, "Since last weekend, a separate dedicated team has been formed to start the investigation, and the only change is that the investigation is being conducted strictly and independently without consulting the Supreme Prosecutors' Office according to the investigation directive. We will uncover the truth as it is."

Furthermore, Park stated, "The legislative intent of Article 9 of the Prosecution Service Act is to guarantee the political neutrality of the prosecution, and prosecution power should be exercised restrictively when it is illegal or abused," adding, "In 2005, when the Minister of Justice issued an investigation directive to the Prosecutor General, the Prosecutor General accepted the directive and resigned to protect the political neutrality of the prosecution. At that time, I was a junior prosecutor and expressed the opinion that the same should be done. Although the situation is not exactly the same now, I believe it is time to put my words into practice as a Chief Prosecutor."

He said, "When I was Chief Prosecutor of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office, I handled a case involving the forgery of a balance certificate related to the Prosecutor General’s mother-in-law. Initially, the opposition party insisted on the need for an investigation while the ruling party opposed it, but later the positions reversed, with the ruling party insisting on the investigation and the opposition party opposing it," adding, "The investigation team chose to investigate and prosecute based on law and principles without political considerations, as the statute of limitations for the balance certificate was about to expire, but since then, the media has reported that I am siding with someone."

Park said, "I have been a prosecutor for 26 years since my appointment in 1995, and I am just a prosecutor who has fulfilled my duties according to law and principles," and questioned, "How should the prosecution act to be fair?"

He emphasized, "The law (法) follows the principle of things, like water flowing naturally (去), and should not be resisted," adding, "The prosecution must enforce the law in this way and must also be seen by the public in this way."

Finally, Park concluded, "I am very sorry to the public as a Chief Prosecutor that the prosecution has not gained trust from the people so far," but added, "However, it is very regrettable that politics and the media are showing the prosecution as a political prosecution to the public according to their own frames."