Park Eun-jung, Head of Seongnam Branch, Resigns... Ministry of Justice to Soon Review Honorary Retirement Eligibility

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Park Eun-jung, head of the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (age 50, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 29), who clashed with President Yoon Seok-yeol as a 'pro-government' prosecutor during Yoon's tenure as Prosecutor General, has expressed her intention to resign.

According to the legal community on the 7th, Park recently notified the Ministry of Justice of her intention to resign and applied for honorary retirement. The Ministry of Justice will review the possibility of honorary retirement once Park formally submits her resignation letter.

Park was known as a 'pro-government prosecutor' during the Moon Jae-in administration, along with her husband Lee Jong-geun, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office (age 53, class 28, concurrently serving as a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute).

In 2020, while working as the Ministry of Justice's Inspection Officer, she led the practical work of inspection and disciplinary requests against then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol.

In July of last year, she was promoted to head of the Seongnam branch and was suspected of attempting to cover up the investigation into the 'Seongnam FC allegations' involving Lee Jae-myung, former presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea. The investigation team and then Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Ha-young repeatedly recommended to Park Eun-jung that a reinvestigation or supplementary investigation was necessary, but Park allegedly ignored these requests.

In the legal community, there is a prevailing view that Park's application for honorary retirement may not be accepted, as she is currently under investigation and has been reported to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and the prosecution over the Seongnam FC case cover-up allegations.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice has started consultations with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety since last week to increase the number of research fellows at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, often referred to as a 'place of exile.' This is analyzed as an effort to secure positions for additional demotions.

According to the current 'Organization of the Ministry of Justice and its Affiliated Agencies,' the Judicial Research and Training Institute can have up to seven research fellows, of whom only four can be appointed as prosecutors.

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