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Kim O-su, the prosecutor general of Korea, enters the National Assembly on April 15 to protest legislation attempting to strip prosecutors of their investigative authority. (pool photo)

The surprise notice of resignation of South Korean Prosecutor General Kim O-su, who had previously declared his intention to finish out his term “according to the law and principles” even under pressure to resign from the People Power Party and key associates of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, appeared to be based on his conclusion that there was no point in continuing with his duties.

Kim’s decision came in protest of the Democratic Party’s plans for separating the prosecutors’ investigation and indictment powers. Another factor that may have cemented his resolve to quit was current President Moon Jae-in’s effective refusal of his request for a meeting.

With the Moon administration’s last prosecutor general departing in protest of the Democratic Party’s plans with over a year left in his term, the incoming Yoon administration now finds itself with a weight unexpectedly lifted off its shoulders, as it no longer has to worry about the potential awkwardness of Kim remaining in place.

Some prosecutors suggested that Kim’s decision to resign may have been a last-ditch effort to sway public opinion. In other words, he declared his intent to resign beforehand because a resignation after the legislation separating the prosecutors’ investigation powers had already passed the National Assembly would amount to nothing more than an after-the-fact response.

“With the prosecutor general’s resignation more or less a foregone conclusion, the only question would have been whether he would do it before or after the Democratic Party passed legislation stripping prosecutors of their investigation powers,” said a senior official with the prosecution service.

“Since it wouldn’t have much of an impact with the public if he stepped down after the legislation had passed, it looks as though he decided to play the resignation card preemptively at the time when it would have the most impact,” the official suggested.

Analysts also suggested the Blue House’s refusal of Kim’s request for a meeting also played a part in hastening his departure. With few prospects for a meeting with the president and the exercise of presidential veto powers, he found himself with little room to maneuver as the nation’s top prosecutor.

Commenting on Kim’s request for a meeting with the president while speaking to reporters on Friday, a senior Blue House official said, “We’ve already stressed several times now that this is a time for legislation, when the National Assembly needs to be discussing the issue [of abolishing the prosecutors’ investigation powers].”

“So I’ll give that as our answer,” the official added, reiterating the commitment to the Democratic Party’s passage of legislation removing the prosecutors’ investigation authority.

Another apparent influence on Kim’s decision was Yoon’s nomination of Han Dong-hoon, a senior public prosecutor and Judicial Research and Training Institute vice president, to serve as minister of justice.

An attorney and former chief prosecutor explained, “With President-elect Yoon further fueling the Democratic Party’s commitment to pushing through the prosecution investigation authority legislation by tapping Han Dong-hoon as minister of justice at a time when Kim had been visiting the National Assembly for days on end to try to win support, he must have felt a sense of helplessness in his efforts to persuade the party.”

Also mentioned as a factor in Kim’s early resignation were the complaints from younger prosecutors holding their leadership responsible for the current situation.

Lee Bok-hyeon, a chief public prosecutor with the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office who recently announced his intent to resign, was scathing in his criticism of Kim and the rest of the prosecution leadership, calling them “ostriches with their heads in the sand” and using the term “Nakamura Smith” — a reference to former Japanese collaborators in Korea who switched their allegiance to the American side in the postwar era.

In response, Kim reportedly expressed to others that he hoped people would not “say or do things that hurt others while responding to the push to take away the prosecutors’ investigation powers.”

On Tuesday, junior prosecutors planned to follow the lead of prosecutors from high public and district prosecutors’ offices in holding a nationwide representatives’ meeting at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office to discuss their response to the effort to remove the prosecutors’ investigation authority.

Some prosecutors called Kim’s resignation announcement an “inevitable decision.”

“I respect his choice,” said Kim Hu-gon, director of the Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office, adding that the “remaining superintendent public prosecutors will do our best to stop the legislation from going through.”

Others lamented Kim’s departure. An official at one Seoul-area district prosecutors’ office said, “This is a time when we need an organized response to the legislation on prosecution investigation authority, and a vacuum at the top of the organization could cause disorganization in the ranks.”

“With the prosecutor general stepping down, it looks as though all our efforts to persuade the National Assembly will have to be halted,” the official added.

Kim’s letter of resignation is to be delivered to Moon through current Minister of Justice Park Beom-kye. If Moon accepts it, Kim will become the second prosecutor general to step down in protest of the Democratic Party’s push to separate the prosecutors’ investigation and indictment powers — the first having been Yoon Suk-yeol.

When Yoon announced his intent to resign as prosecutor general on March 4, 2021, Moon accepted his resignation within an hour.

In a message relayed through the Ministry of Justice spokesperson’s office, Park Beom-kye said Sunday that he had “very mixed feelings” about Kim handing in his letter of resignation.

In a position statement, Han Dong-hoon said, “I see Prosecutor General Kim O-su’s announcement of his intent to resign as an expression of his loyalty as a public official tasked with criminal law and judicial duties at a time when this runaway legislation effort that disregards procedure is expected to cause certain damage to the South Korean public.”

By Kim Kyung-wook, staff reporter

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