Chief Prosecutor Jeong Yu-mi (30th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), who filed to suspend the effect of the Justice Ministry's personnel transfer appointing her as a prosecutor at the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office, argued that an internal bulletin board post cannot be grounds for discipline. Emphasizing the validity of her remarks, Jeong said she described the criticism over the decision to drop the appeal in the Daejang-dong case as having "inflicted a deep wound on the self-respect and sense of honor of prosecutors."
According to legal sources on the 23rd, Jeong said in a preparatory brief submitted to the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 5 (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-won) that it is "unclear" what the reasons stated in the Justice Ministry's personnel press release refer to. Regarding phrases in the ministry's personnel press release—"misunderstanding of political neutrality and fairness," "inappropriate expressions," and "tarnishing the organization's honor and trust"—she indicated that it was not specified "what they mean."
As the backdrop, Jeong wrote, "One can only surmise that the reason is the applicant's continued expression of opinions on issues related to the prosecution through the internal bulletin board and other channels." In particular, about the decision to drop the appeal in the Daejang-dong case, she said that "many prosecutors actively expressed their views," not just herself, and added, "Please determine whether prosecutors' expression of opinions was political or inappropriate conduct, or whether, as prosecutors, it was a legitimate expression of opinions that could be presented regarding the leadership's wrongdoing."
She also said, "As a public official and as a prosecutor, I have never engaged in any dishonorable conduct, nor have I done anything warranting discipline."
Earlier, in the Justice Ministry's senior personnel reshuffle, Jeong was transferred from a research fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute, a position equivalent to a Supreme Prosecutors' Office-level prosecutor, to a prosecutor at the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office, a high prosecutors' office-level post. Inside and outside the prosecution, some interpreted it as a disciplinary measure for having voiced critical views on major issues such as prosecutorial reform and the decision to drop the appeal in the Daejang-dong case.
The day after the personnel announcement, she filed a lawsuit to overturn the personnel order against Minister Jung Sung-ho, along with a request for a stay of execution, and the court held a hearing on the 22nd to hear both sides and said it would issue a decision within two weeks.