As prosecutors resign in droves and the Prosecution Service faces a severe manpower shortage, concerns are growing that the Public Prosecution Office set to launch in October could confront a case backlog from day one. With unresolved cases already exceeding 120,000, the burden is mounting as personnel depart.
According to legal sources on the 8th, 58 prosecutors resigned in the first quarter of this year. Since the 2021 adjustment of investigative powers between police and prosecutors, annual resignations were ▲146 in 2022 ▲145 in 2023 ▲132 in 2024 ▲175 in 2025. Just three months into this year, one-third of last year's departures have already resigned.
Unresolved cases are also rising quickly. According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, as of the end of last year, there were 37,421 long-term unresolved cases pending more than three months without a conclusion. Total unresolved cases have topped 120,000. That is nearly double in a year. On the front lines, there are reports that some prosecutors have 500 to 600 unresolved cases each.
On the ground, the staffing crunch is becoming a reality. Not a few prosecutor's offices have fewer than half their authorized headcount on duty. At 10 district offices with a deputy chief prosecutor, actual staffing is about 55% of authorized strength.
Assistant chief prosecutor An Mihyeon at the Cheonan branch publicly raised the manpower issue last month, describing the Cheonan branch on social media (SNS) as a "bankrupt branch." An said, "We have 35 authorized prosecutor slots, but only 8 investigators and 4 trial prosecutors are actually working."
Inside and outside the prosecution, many say this manpower shortage was already expected. Departures accelerated last year as the abolition of the Prosecution Service became a foregone conclusion.
When the Prosecution Service is abolished on Oct. 2 for the first time in 78 years, prosecutors must either remain at the Public Prosecution Office or transfer to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. However, the Public Prosecution Office will be limited to indictments and maintaining prosecutions, and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency's organization and role also remain uncertain, acting as factors driving departures. A prosecutor at a Seoul-area district office said, "There's less incentive to stay with the organization."
After the Prosecution Service is abolished, the Public Prosecution Office is likely to shoulder a large share of the unresolved cases now piling up. If a backlog persists in the early days, there are concerns it could lead to delays in handling livelihood-related cases.
The Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office plan to respond by dispatching prosecutors to branches with acute shortages. Effective on the 13th, two mid-career prosecutors will be sent to the Namyangju branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office and the Cheonan branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office. The placement of experienced prosecutors will also be moved up from August to June.
However, within the prosecution there is a view that with less than six months left before the Prosecution Service is abolished, this is unlikely to be a fundamental solution. A senior official at the rank of chief prosecutor said, "In the past, performance in clearing unresolved cases affected personnel evaluations, so we paid close attention, but now there are more new cases coming in than cases we process," adding, "We are essentially in a state of resignation."