It became known on the 10th that, following frontline district prosecutors, chiefs of branch prosecutors' offices also issued a joint statement asking the leadership of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Justice Ministry for "an explanation that is acceptable," after prosecutors abandoned an appeal in the "Daejang-dong development corruption" case.
According to the prosecution and others, Park Jae-eok, chief of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, on this day posted on the internal network (e-Pros) under the names of 18 frontline district prosecutors a message titled "Request for explanation to the acting prosecutor general," demanding that acting Prosecutor General Noh Man-seok "provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances and legal grounds." Kim Tae-hoon, chief of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, Lim Eun-jeong, chief of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, and Jeong Jin-woo, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who offered to resign on the 8th over the controversy, were not included in the statement.
After the district prosecutors, chiefs of eight large branch offices also issued a collective statement, calling on acting chief Noh to provide more specific explanations regarding the circumstances of abandoning the appeal. These are chiefs who lead branch offices with deputy chiefs (called chachijicheong) and are senior chiefs heading major branch offices that are larger than branch offices with section chiefs directly under the Administrator (called buchijicheong).
Eight chiefs — Ha Dam-mi of the Anyang Branch, Im Il-su of the Seongnam Branch, Lee Dong-gyun of the Ansan Branch, Kim Yun-seon of the Cheonan Branch, Shin Dong-won of the Daegu Western Branch, Choi Haeng-gwan of the Busan Eastern Branch, Son Chan-o of the Busan Western Branch, and Yong Seong-jin of the Suncheon Branch — also said in a statement posted on e-Pros that "if the circumstances leading to the instruction to abandon the appeal in the Daejang-dong case are not sufficiently explained, it will leave an irreparable and fatal wound on the values the prosecution must uphold and on the very reason for the prosecution's existence." They added, "The statements from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief and the acting prosecutor general, and the justice minister's explanation, do not explain the specific circumstances under which the appeal was abandoned."
They said, "In a major corruption case that has proceeded over several years under intense public scrutiny, it appears that the unanimous opinion to appeal from the investigation and trial team directly responsible for maintaining the indictment was not reflected at all, without any reasonable explanation," and urged "those in responsible positions to provide an explanation that is acceptable and to demonstrate conduct befitting their positions." Among the chachijicheong chiefs, Jeong Ji-young, chief of the Goyang Branch, did not join the statement.
Meanwhile, researchers at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office were also said to be set to deliver a statement during the day calling for acting chief Noh's resignation. In legal circles, there is an interpretation that, as the leadership of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office blocked appeals in related cases to favor the current administration, what is effectively the final revolt within the prosecution may have broken out as the organization faces abolition in Oct. next year.