The decision on whether to accept the resignation of Lee Chang-soo, the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, is likely to be made after the new government is inaugurated. Initially, it was reported that the Chief Prosecutor was scheduled to retire on the day before the presidential election on the 2nd, but the resignation acceptance process was not completed.
According to the legal community on the 3rd, it is reported that the Chief Prosecutor is also working on the day of the presidential election, overseeing and receiving reports on election-related situations.
Previously, the Chief Prosecutor was impeached by the National Assembly for the ruling of non-indictment in connection with the 'Deutsch Motors stock price manipulation' allegations involving former President Yoon Suk-yeol's wife, Kim Keon-hee, but returned to work following the Constitutional Court's dismissal decision. After about two months, on the 20th of last month, he expressed his intention to resign due to health reasons.
On the same day, Jo Sang-won, the Vice Administrator of the Central District Prosecutors' Office, who has been leading the special investigation under the Chief Prosecutor, also expressed his intention to resign. It is reported that their planned retirement date was initially the day before.
However, the Ministry of Justice is said not to have accepted the resignation letters from the Chief Prosecutor and the Vice Administrator. The Central District Prosecutors' Office has also reportedly not yet set a schedule for the Chief Prosecutor's retirement ceremony by that day. The decision on whether to accept the resignation of the Chief Prosecutor and the Vice Administrator is expected to be made by the new government that will be inaugurated after the presidential election.
Meanwhile, Prosecutor Ahn Dong-wan from the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, who also expressed his intention to resign, posted on the prosecutor's internal network the day before, saying, "After finishing 22 years of public service, I am now leaving for the private sector," and added, "I felt a sense of accomplishment and pride more than anything when I revealed truths that were concealed or distorted. I have been making continuous efforts to not lose the original intention I had when I received my prosecutor's appointment letter."
Prosecutor Ahn was impeached in September 2023 for the first time in the history of constitutional law as a sitting prosecutor over alleged abuse of prosecutorial authority related to the 'Seoul public servant spy fabrication' case; however, the Constitutional Court rendered a dismissal decision with a vote of 5 (dismiss) to 4 (admit) eight months later, in May last year.