Acting Prosecutor General Gu Ja-hyeon Submits Resignation, Taking Responsibility for Criminal Procedure Act Revision

Gu Ja-hyeon, acting head of the prosecution service and deputy prosecutor general at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, has offered to resign immediately after the passage of the revised Criminal Procedure Act by the National Assembly.

Speaking to reporters on his way home from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office at 6:00 p.m. today (the 31st), Acting General Gu stated, "I take full responsibility for the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act and have just submitted my resignation."

This comes 258 days after he assumed office on November 15 of last year.

"While the prosecution service must engage in self-reflection regarding areas where it failed to gain public trust, the essence of the prosecution system—which is to discover substantive truth and protect victims and other individuals involved in cases—must not be compromised, even if institutional reorganization takes place for such reasons," Gu said.

He continued, "We have continuously contemplated the direction of institutional reorganization aimed at guaranteeing citizens' rights and protecting society from crime. We have also continuously raised concerns that this revised Criminal Procedure Act has an inefficient structure—one where prosecutors have no choice but to rely solely on investigative records to decide whether to indict, makes it difficult to faithfully protect victims, and consumes significant time and money."

Gu noted, "Without these concerns being accepted, the revision bill was passed as is, and it is difficult to hide my feelings of regret and helplessness. I earnestly ask that once the revision bill is forwarded to the government, it be reviewed once more to ensure there are no institutional vacuums and no shortcomings in protecting the public."

He added, "I also take full responsibility for the fact that the Criminal Procedure Act is being revised in this manner while concerns raised by experts from various fields, including the legal community, and the general public still remain. I hope that our criminal justice system will develop in a direction where all citizens can be protected fairly before the law."

After completing the 29th Judicial Research and Training Institute course, Gu was appointed as a prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office Southern Branch and has passed through major prosecution posts including the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and the Ministry of Justice.

During the period in 2020 when then-Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and then-Prosecutor General Yoon Suk Yeol clashed over the issue of stripping prosecutors of all investigative powers, Gu served as the spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, acting as the "voice" for Minister Choo.

Having served as the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Gu was promoted to prosecutor general in subsequent personnel reshuffles and appointed as the Director of the Prosecution Bureau at the Ministry of Justice, overseeing the prosecution's personnel and budget.

Following the change of administration to the Yoon Suk Yeol government, Gu rotated through "marginal" posts such as deputy chief prosecutor of the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office, deputy chief prosecutor of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office, and research commissioner at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, before returning to a key post in July of last year when he was appointed as the head of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in the first prosecution personnel appointments under the Lee Jae-myung government.

In November of last year, following the resignation of former Acting Prosecutor General Noh Man-seok amid controversy over dropping the appeal in the Daejang-dong case, Gu took on the role of leading the prosecution service.

Having maintained a restrained approach with scarce external messaging during the prosecution reform phase after taking office, Gu publicly expressed "devastating feelings" and concerns after the National Assembly's parliamentary audit targeting the prosecution began, following an extreme attempt made by a prosecutor handling the Daejang-dong case.

Through doorstepping (brief Q&A) on his way home from work at the time, Gu pointed out, "The court's judgment according to due process was attacked based on one-sided and fragmentary claims by case participants, and front-line prosecutors and investigators in charge of the case's investigation and maintenance of indictment were summoned as witnesses. No parliamentary audit should ever be evaluated as attempting to influence a trial."

Prior to the submission of the Criminal Procedure Act revision bill, Gu also issued a statement the day before yesterday (the 29th), stating, "As the acting prosecutor general, I hold a heavy heart regarding the content and direction of the discussions on revising the Criminal Procedure Act, including the abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers."

In his statement, Gu emphasized, "As confirmed in multiple recent cases, if the prosecutor's effective inspection, supplementation, and correction functions regarding the investigative content of primary investigative agencies disappear, the truth will be concealed and South Korea's criminal justice system will collapse. The resulting damage will be borne by the citizens who need the state's protection more than anyone else."

However, as the revised Criminal Procedure Act ultimately passed without reflecting the provisions requested by the prosecution, including supplementary investigation powers, it is interpreted that he offered to resign to take responsibility and clearly state his opposition.

Once Gu's resignation is accepted, the duties of the prosecutor general will temporarily be undertaken by Park Gyu-hyung, head of the Planning and Coordination Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, operating under an "acting-for-the-acting" system.

Some suggest that if the government newly appoints an acting prosecutor general, there is a possibility that this person might consecutively serve until heading the envisioned Investigation Office (Gongso-cheong) launching in October.

On the other hand, predictions are also emerging that given the imminent launch of the Investigation Office, the government could directly nominate the head of the Investigation Office without appointing an acting head, taking into consideration hearing schedules and other factors.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.