Judges and Prosecutors Resign One After Another Ahead of Regular Court and Prosecutor Office Personnel Changes

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Ahead of the regular personnel reshuffle in February, prosecutors and judges have been submitting their resignation letters one after another.

According to the legal community on the 18th, Yoo Cheon-yeol, Chief Prosecutor of the 1st Division for Investigation of Major Economic Crimes at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (age 50, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 31), posted a resignation message on the internal prosecution network 'Eprose' the day before. On the 14th, Lee Hye-mi, a prosecutor at the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office (age 39, class 39), also wrote a resignation post.

Along with Prosecutor Lee, it is known that ordinary prosecutors in their 30s and 40s, including Seo Dong-beom of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office Eastern Branch (age 45, class 39), Kim Se-gwan of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office (age 36, class 40), and Jeong Gwang-byeong of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (age 42, class 40), have recently submitted their resignations.

The Ministry of Justice is expected to announce personnel changes for mid-level prosecutors and ordinary prosecutors as early as the 24th. The appointments will take effect on the 7th of next month. To discuss the criteria and targets, a Prosecution Personnel Committee meeting is scheduled for the 21st.

Chief Prosecutor Yoo wrote, "I wanted to become a prosecutor who could be like a stump where tired and exhausted colleagues and juniors could take a short rest, but now I regret that I can no longer do so," adding, "I will always support the prosecution."

Prosecutor Lee said, "There have been significant changes, big and small, over the past 12 years, and I have shared that time as a member of the prosecution," and added, "No matter what position I hold or what I do, my trust and support for the prosecution will not change."

The legal community analyzes that the consecutive resignations of prosecutors are due to factors such as the implementation of the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution, the establishment of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (Gong-su-cheo), which have lowered the prosecution's status compared to the past, and somewhat decreased internal morale, creating an atmosphere of 'leaving the prosecution.'

At the court, which is expected to announce the regular personnel reshuffle as early as the end of this month, five Supreme Court judicial researchers have submitted their resignation letters.

Supreme Court judicial researchers are considered key positions within the court. They assist Supreme Court justices by reviewing appellate cases. They are composed of chief judges or single judges.

In addition, Ko Ui-young, Chief Judge of the 1st Administrative Division of the Seoul High Court (age 64, class 13), Choi Han-don, Chief Judge of the Seoul Family Court (age 57, class 28), Kim Seon-il, Chief Judge of the Seoul Central District Court (age 48, class 29), and Lee Jong-hwan (age 47, class 30) and Han Won-gyo (age 47, class 31), Chief Judges of the Seoul Administrative Court, have also reportedly expressed their intention to resign.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.