The opposition is strongly protesting the appointment of Park Cheol-u, who was in the core command line that led the prosecution's decision to forgo an appeal in the Daejang-dong case, as chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok said at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on the 20th, "The Lee Jae-myung administration has carried out a tyrannical personnel move by appointing Park Cheol-u, director of the anti-corruption department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, who meticulously engineered the decision to forgo an appeal in the Daejang-dong case, as chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office," adding, "It goes beyond a simple reward appointment and is a declaration of war to the public that aims to complete a 'cartel of silence' to protect the criminal proceeds from Daejang-dong."
Jang said, "It is to give him a mission to push ahead with even withdrawing the indictment after forgoing the appeal," adding, "Instead of encouraging the 18 chief prosecutors who voiced legitimate opinions against the administration's injustice, they smeared them with the absurd label of serious crimes and said they would file a complaint with the police."
Jang said, "This is a gangster administration that gives good posts if you join the criminal organization and cuts off your finger if you defy it," adding, "No wonder even within the prosecution they lament that this is a case showing how a personnel authority holder can wreck the national system, saying they promoted someone who stabbed the investigation team in the back."
Floor leader Song Eon-seog also criticized, saying, "They promoted and appointed Director General Park Cheol-u, the key man behind the decision to forgo an appeal, as chief of the Central District Prosecutors' Office," and called it "a declaration of war to the public by an arrogant administration that fears nothing under heaven."
Song, the floor leader, pressed the Democratic Party of Korea to accept a parliamentary inquiry into the decision to forgo the appeal. Song said, "The People Power Party has broadly agreed to include not only external pressure related to forgoing the appeal but also the prosecutors' alleged insubordination that the Democratic Party wants as subjects of the parliamentary investigation," adding, "Since it is the special committee on the parliamentary investigation first proposed by Democratic Party floor leader Kim Byung-kee, stop dodging and accept it."
The Reform Party also joined the chorus of criticism. Reform Party floor leader Cheon Ha-ram criticized Park Cheol-u's promotion at the supreme council meeting that day. Cheon said, "Chief prosecutor Park Cheol-u is the kind of figure who, even after receiving on the 7th—the deadline to appeal in the Daejang-dong development scandal—the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team's intent to file an appeal, ordered a re-review," adding, "Appointing such a person as chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is very crucial evidence that they regard the huge benefits given to the Daejang-dong group as something to be rewarded."