After Acting Prosecutor General, Seoul Central District Chief Also Issues Statement: "Made Clear Our Differing Opinion"

Regarding the prosecution's decision to forgo an appeal in the Daejang-dong case, Jinwoo Jung, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (29th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), who expressed his intention to resign over the matter, revealed that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office ultimately did not accept the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's position that an appeal should be filed at the time.

Jinwoo Jung, the newly appointed Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, is delivering his inaugural address at the inauguration ceremony held on July 4 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang

On the 9th, Chief Prosecutor Jung issued a statement, saying, "The authority of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office must be followed and respected." However, he added, "While I accept the direction of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, I made it clear that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office held a different opinion, and I expressed my intention to resign to take responsibility for this situation."

This statement was released just over an hour after the statement from Norman Seok, Acting Prosecutor General (Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, 29th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), was made public. It appears to be a rebuttal to the explanation provided by Acting Prosecutor General Seok regarding the situation at the time. It is highly unusual for both the Acting Prosecutor General to issue a statement regarding a specific case and for the chief prosecutor in charge of the investigation to also release a statement.

In his statement, Acting Prosecutor General Seok explained the process of deciding to drop the appeal, saying, "This was a decision made under my responsibility as Acting Prosecutor General, after discussions with the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and careful consideration."

However, the statement released later by Chief Prosecutor Jung differed in tone from that of Acting Prosecutor General Seok. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office maintained until the end that an appeal should be filed, but the Supreme Prosecutors' Office did not waver in its intention to forgo the appeal, so the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office had no choice but to respect and follow the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's authority. This is interpreted to mean that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office effectively disregarded the opinions of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the investigation team and ordered the appeal to be dropped, and that Chief Prosecutor Jung expressed his intention to resign because he could not agree with this decision.

With the two main decision-makers in the Daejang-dong case-the Acting Prosecutor General and the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office-releasing statements that could be interpreted differently regarding the circumstances, there are now predictions that internal conflict within the prosecution may intensify going forward.

Norman Seok, Acting Prosecutor General, is responding to lawmakers' questions at the 2025 National Assembly Inspection held on the 27th of last month at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyunmin