Top prosecutor defies calls to step down

By Ko Dong-hwan

Korea's Prosecutor-General Kim O-su, appointed by the liberal Moon Jae-in administration, has rejected pressure from President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's conservative People Power Party (PPP) to resign before his term ends next year. Kim's decision shows his intent to stay in the role despite the PPPs hawkish stance against him.

Arriving at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul's Seocho District on Wednesday morning, Kim briefly told journalists that he will “faithfully perform his duty as the top prosecutor in accordance with the laws and principles.”

Kim's statement came after some PPP lawmakers have been pressuring him to quit. PPP Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, considered as one of Yoon's closest aides, said Tuesday on a MBC radio show that it has come to a point where Kim may be faced with the need to make decisions on his course of action going forward.

“Kim assured the public (during a national audit on the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in October 2021) to trust him, as he was leading investigations into Lee Jae-myung's alleged involvement in the land development scandals in Daejang-dong and Baekhyun-dong in Seongnam, but he hasn't made any progress as of yet,” Kweon said, referring to the presidential candidate from the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) who lost to Yoon in the March 9 election.

If Kim maneuvers toward more thorough investigations than before and sticks to the letter of the law ― and principles ― from now on, he will complete his term, said Kweon on the show.

Kweon remarked that Kim will have to consider resignation if he doesn't speed up the investigations, though he doesn't think Yoon will press Kim to resign.

Rep. Kwon Young-se, the vice-chairperson of the Presidential Transition Committee, who was the former head of Yoon's presidential election camp, also said Tuesday that any official appointees who took their positions as appointed by President Moon would now need to consider their future courses. Kwon's comment seemed to be aimed at Kim.

“If Kim and his prosecutors show their true investigative skills and prove that their investigations are non-partisan and neutral, then Kim might not need to worry about his current position,” Kwon told TV broadcaster MBN, Tuesday.

The position of Prosecutor-General is one that has often conflicted with incoming administrations, particularly when the opposition party come to power. Despite a law introduced in 1988 that guarantees a prosecutor-general's term of two years, only eight out of 22 prosecutor generals in the country's history have completed their full terms.

While some had resigned after admitting a self-grievance, some had resigned not long after a new administration was introduced out of political interests. Former prosecutor-general Kim Gak-young, appointed by the late Kim Dae-jung (1998-2003), resigned four months after the next Roh Moo-hyun administration started. Kim Soo-nam, appointed by former president Park Geun-hye (2012-2017), resigned only one month after the Moon administration commenced.

Yoon's aides have publicly said that the President-elect doesn't seem to trust how Kim has been running the Supreme Prosecutors' Office since his appointment in June 2021, and Yoon has also publicly expressed his hawkish view on Kim. Yoon, himself a former prosecutor-general, served as the direct predecessor to Kim.

Invited to a debate hosted by the country's traditional journalists' group, Kwanhun Club, last December, Yoon said that Kim and most active prosecutors must immediately step down. “Look at how they are handling the Daejang-dong scandal now,” Yoon said. “They must be replaced with those who can work things out better.”

Some other prosecutors appointed by the Moon administration have decided to step down after Yoon takes over as President. Suwon High Prosecutors' Office chief Kim Gwan-jung, who rose to the position last year, has recently resigned, according to reports on Wednesday. He reportedly made the decision before possibly being hit by Yoon's order to quit his office.

Other chief prosecutors now heading the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, and the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office are among the ones considered friendly to the incumbent administration.

Yoon, as a presidential candidate, had pledged to empower the country's prosecutors by abolishing the Minister of Justice's commandership over the law enforcers and allotting a separate national budget for operating the country's dozens of prosecutors' offices. But Justice Minister Park Beom-kye has bucked at Yoon's pledges, saying that they will only weaken the country's tools for monitoring prosecutors and will thus raise questions about whether they are investigating fairly. The minister also objected to the proposal of a separate budget for prosecutors, saying that it ignores transparency on budgetary spending.