Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho seems earlier than the Nationwide Meeting’s Laws and Judiciary Committee for a parliamentary audit on Oct. 30, 2025. (Yonhap)
The backlash continues to accentuate after prosecutors determined to not enchantment a ruling on the high-profile corruption case linked to President Lee Jae Myung throughout his time as mayor of Seongnam.
Management of the prosecution service had deliberate to enchantment the preliminary courtroom ruling on the Daejang growth corruption case in line with the investigation workforce’s resolution, however appeared to have reversed their resolution following opposition from the Justice Ministry, fueling inner protests by prosecutors.
The highest opposition Folks Energy Occasion referred to as for a parliamentary inquiry into the matter, calling the transfer “essential to reveal if there was any interference from the presidential workplace or different authority figures.”
Democratic Occasion ground chief Kim Byung-kee countered, saying, “If the organized backlash by the workforce investigating the Daejang case is the prosecution service’s doing, then we’d like a parliamentary inquiry, a listening to, and a everlasting particular counsel.”
On Oct. 31, the Seoul Central District Courtroom sentenced a number of figures for his or her roles in a corruption scandal associated to the Daejang growth mission in Seongnam throughout Lee Jae Myung’s tenure as mayor of the Gyeonggi metropolis.
Sources within the Justice Ministry and the prosecution service instructed the Hankyoreh on Sunday that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Workplace did not submit a written enchantment relating to the preliminary verdict within the Daejang growth case by the designated deadline of Nov. 7, thereby forfeiting its proper to enchantment.
In line with the Legal Process Act’s Article 368, which prohibits judgment disadvantageous to defendants, by forfeiting their enchantment, prosecutors can not name for a penalty extra extreme than the one decided by the decrease courtroom, nor can they reverse acquittals.
The workforce of prosecutors assigned to the Daejang growth case posted a message on the prosecutors’ inner server saying, “The management within the Supreme Prosecutors’ Workplace and the [Seoul] Central District Workplace have, for causes unknowable, ordered the deferral of the submission of the written enchantment.”
The message characterised the incident as a “forfeiture of the enchantment created by exterior strain” and expressed forceful opposition.
Kang Baek-shin of the Daegu Excessive Prosecutors’ Workplace, who had been tasked with sustaining indictments within the Daejang case, stated, “The Supreme Prosecutors’ Workplace internally determined to go forward with the enchantment, however the justice minister and the deputy justice minister opposed it. I heard that in the long run, the Seoul Central District Workplace management tried to persuade the Supreme Prosecutors’ Workplace to approve the enchantment.”
In an inner assertion issued among the many prosecutors, performing Prosecutor Common Noh Man-seok stated, “Concerning the Daejang case, as is customary with all main instances, we thought-about the Justice Ministry’s place, the preliminary verdict’s reasoning and substance, the circumstances for an enchantment, and the case’s development up to now. After contemplating all these elements, we determined that not submitting an enchantment was the right plan of action.”
“This resolution was made by me because the performing prosecutor common, in coordination with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Workplace, after a lot deliberation,” he added.
Jeong Jin-woo, the top prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Workplace, issued a press release on Sunday after asserting his intentions to resign on Saturday following the choice to forgo the enchantment.
“I attempted to relay the place of the Seoul Central District Workplace, however couldn’t get by to them. Whereas I’ll observe the Supreme Prosecutors’ Workplace’s orders, I wish to make clear that the Seoul Central District Workplace’s place was totally different,” he stated.
Jeong’s assertion acts as affirmation that there had been friction between the Seoul Central District Workplace, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Workplace, and the Justice Ministry relating to the enchantment.
Rumblings of illicit interference from individuals in excessive locations inside the authorized group have prompted concern about how the case may negatively have an effect on the push for prosecutorial reform.
“Have they got to be so blatant about it?” Lim Jae-sung, an lawyer with Minbyun – Attorneys for a Democratic Society, posted on his Fb web page on Saturday.
“Public help for the administration’s prosecutorial reforms is prone to falter because of this forfeiture within the enchantment,” he added.
Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho determined to problem the ministry’s place relating to the method main as much as the forfeiture in a casual press briefing on Monday morning.
By Kim Ji-eun, workers reporter; Bae Ji-hyun, workers reporter
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