Ahead of High-Ranking Prosecutor Personnel Changes, Chief Prosecutors Submit Mass Resignations

Ahead of the prosecution's senior personnel appointments, senior executives who are senior batch members of Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 27) have been submitting their resignations.

According to the legal community on the 24th, Moon Hong-seong (55, class 26), the head of the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office, recently submitted his resignation to the Ministry of Justice. Prosecutor Moon is known as a representative 'special investigation expert' within the prosecution. He has held key positions such as Chief of the Special Investigation Division 3 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Deputy Head of the Defense Industry Corruption Joint Investigation Team, and Chief of the Special Investigation Division at the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, leading major investigations.

After serving as a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, he was promoted to Chief Prosecutor in July 2019 and held positions including Head of the Human Rights Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Chief Prosecutor of Changwon District Prosecutors' Office, Chief Prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, and Head of the Anti-Corruption and Violence Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

Lee Soo-kwon (54, class 26), Chief Prosecutor of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, is also reported to have submitted his resignation to the Ministry of Justice. Prosecutor Lee was promoted to Chief Prosecutor in 2020 and has served as Head of the Human Rights Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Acting Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, Chief Prosecutor of the Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office, and Chief Prosecutor of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office.

While seconded to the Presidential Secretariat in 2005, he obtained a New York State Bar license in the United States. From 2013 to 2016, he was dispatched to the Embassy in the U.S., and is sometimes classified as a 'U.S. expert.'

No Jeong-hwan (56, class 26), Chief Prosecutor of the Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office, posted a resignation message on the prosecution's internal network (Epross) on the same day, stating, "I intend to conclude my 27-year journey as a prosecutor," and added, "I ask that you listen to the voices of the people and fulfill the prosecution's fundamental duties of human rights and justice."

Prosecutor No, a graduate of the Korean National Police University, was promoted to Chief Prosecutor in July 2019 and has served as Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office, Head of the Trial and Litigation Division and Human Rights Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Chief Prosecutor of the Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office, and Chief Prosecutor of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office.

The successive resignations are interpreted as a way to ease the burden on the leadership ahead of the senior personnel appointments in the prosecution.

The Ministry of Justice is expected to carry out senior personnel appointments for prosecutors at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office level (High Prosecutors and Chief Prosecutors) as early as next week. Currently, the positions of Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, Chief Prosecutor of the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office, Chief Prosecutor of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office, and Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute are vacant at the High Prosecutor level.

At the Chief Prosecutor level, vacancies include the Chief Prosecutor positions of Jeonju, Gwangju, and Ulsan District Prosecutors' Offices, as well as the Chief Prosecutor of Changwon District Prosecutors' Office, Chief Prosecutor of Jeju District Prosecutors' Office, Deputy Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and Planning Director of the Judicial Training Institute. In this personnel appointment, promotions to Chief Prosecutor from classes 29 to 30 of the Training Institute, known as the 'flower of the prosecution,' are expected.

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