Jaeok Park, Chief Prosecutor of Suwon, and Kang Song, Chief Prosecutor of Gwangju, Resign
Senior Prosecutors Who Led Criticism of Appeal Withdrawal May Trigger Wave of Resignations
Jaeok Park, Chief Prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, is delivering his inaugural speech at the inauguration ceremony held on July 29 at the Suwon Prosecutors' Office building in Yeongtong District, Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News
Jaeok Park, Chief Prosecutor of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (29th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), who demanded a detailed explanation from the acting Prosecutor General regarding the prosecution's decision to forgo an appeal in the Daejang-dong development corruption case, has tendered his resignation. This comes just one day after news broke that the government and the ruling party were regarding internal opposition within the prosecution as a 'collective act of defiance' and were planning to reassign all chief prosecutors to the position of ordinary prosecutors. With Song Kang, Chief Prosecutor of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office and Park's classmate from the training institute, also submitting his resignation, there are now concerns about a possible wave of resignations among senior prosecutors.
According to the legal community on the 17th, Chief Prosecutor Park expressed his intention to resign to the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on this day. This comes one week after a statement titled "We Request Further Explanation from the Acting Prosecutor General," signed by 18 chief prosecutors including Park, was posted on the prosecution's internal network, Epros, on the 10th. Among the signatories, Park is the most senior by class year at the training institute.
It has also been reported that Chief Prosecutor Song submitted his resignation on the same day. All of them are classmates from the training institute with the newly appointed acting Prosecutor General Koo Jahyun (Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office) and Noh Manseok, the former acting Prosecutor General who resigned on the 12th.
Chief Prosecutor Park is the most senior among those who signed the joint statement, and Chief Prosecutor Song is one of only three high prosecutors at his level. Whether there will be a wave of resignations among senior prosecutors will likely depend on how many resign from the 30th-31st classes, who make up the core of district chief prosecutors, as well as from the 32nd-33rd classes, who were just recently promoted to chief prosecutor. Among the 30th class are Lee Jonghyuk, Chief Prosecutor of the Busan High Prosecutors' Office; Lim Eunjung, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office; Kim Taehun, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office; as well as district chief prosecutors and research fellows at the Legal Research and Training Institute.
Previously, former acting Prosecutor General Noh stated, in response to the controversy over the 'decision to forgo an appeal in the Daejang-dong case,' that "After receiving the opinion to appeal from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and also considering the Ministry of Justice's view, I comprehensively reviewed the intent and content of the ruling, the standards for appeal, and the progress of the case, and determined that it was reasonable not to file an appeal."
Nevertheless, as some prosecutors voiced opposition to the decision not to appeal in the Daejang-dong case, the Democratic Party of Korea has defined this as a collective act of defiance and is demanding disciplinary action from the Minister of Justice against those involved. The government is reportedly considering reassigning the 18 chief prosecutors who issued the statement to the position of ordinary prosecutor.
While there have been instances of mass resignations in the past, these were more in line with internal customs within the prosecution. Due to the strict hierarchical culture, when someone from a lower class year at the training institute was appointed as the head, seniors and classmates would resign to ease the burden of command for the new leader.
There have also been cases where classmates stayed in their positions for a certain period to support organizational stability. However, the current situation is different, as discussions are underway about the possible abolition of the prosecution office and even disciplinary demotions of chief prosecutors, making it difficult for senior officials to continue in their roles.
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