Court Orders "Disclose Prosecutor General's Special Activity Expense Details"... Ruling Cancels Information Disclosure Refusal

Seoul Administrative Court, Yangjae-dong, Seoul. / Photo by Supreme Court

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] A court ruling has ordered the disclosure of the entire special activity expenses of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and part of the special activity expenses of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

The Administrative Division 2 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-min) on the 11th partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed by Ha Seung-su, co-representative of the civic group 'Catch Tax Thieves,' against the Prosecutor General and the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, seeking cancellation of the refusal to disclose information.

The court stated, "The defendant Prosecutor General's refusal to disclose information to the plaintiff on October 30, 2019, is canceled. The refusal to disclose information by the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on October 21, 2019, regarding the information listed in Appendix 2 is canceled, and the remaining claims are dismissed."

Earlier, Representative Ha requested disclosure of the execution details and supporting documents for special activity expenses, specific task expenses, and business promotion expenses spent by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office from January 1, 2017, to September 30, 2019.

However, when the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office refused to disclose information on special activity expenses excluding business promotion expenses, citing investigation obstruction and other reasons, a lawsuit was filed in November 2019.

This lawsuit is known as the first information disclosure lawsuit regarding the prosecution budget.

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