Prosecutor Jung Yu-mi of the Daejeon High Public Prosecutors' Office (30th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), who was effectively demoted from a senior prosecutor level (chief prosecutor equivalent) to a high-prosecutors' office level post in December of last year, argued during the appeal trial for the cancellation of her personnel transfer order that "a pillar of the criminal justice system has collapsed, and the bitter words I spoke have become a reality," demanding that the Ministry of Justice apologize for the wrongful personnel action.

The 7th Administrative Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Kwon Soon-hyung) held the first hearing for the appeal trial of the lawsuit filed by Prosecutor Jung against the Ministry of Justice to cancel the personnel order today (November 5) and listened to arguments from both sides.

In June of this year, the first instance court ruled that the Ministry of Justice had abused its discretionary power in personnel management and that the personnel order should be cancelled, prompting the Ministry of Justice to appeal, leading to the appellate review.

The Ministry of Justice emphasized that the personnel order concerning Prosecutor Jung was not a disciplinary action, arguing, "If personnel transfers for prosecutors are regarded as disciplinary or disadvantageous measures, it will lead to a problem where everyone challenges personnel orders simply because they dislike the assigned positions."

"According to Supreme Court precedents, a prosecutor's personnel transfer order is a matter of high discretion and should be respected as is unless there is a violation of laws and regulations," the ministry stated, maintaining that the personnel order should be upheld.

Prosecutor Jung, who attended the court in person, countered, "This lawsuit was filed not because I was transferred as a research commissioner to the Justice Research and Training Institute, but because I was demoted to a senior prosecutor at the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office, which is a high-prosecutors' office level post," adding, "The Ministry of Justice is obfuscating the purpose of this lawsuit."

Prosecutor Jung strongly criticized the situation, citing not only the abolition of prosecutors' offices but also the National Assembly's pressure on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, stating, "A pillar of the criminal justice system has completely collapsed."

She stated, "An unprecedented situation has unfolded in which the prosecution was dismantled overnight, the Chief Justice was summoned to the National Assembly to be humiliated, and threatened with parliamentary inspections and impeachment," adding, "It is no exaggeration to say that the field where investigations and indictments are carried out is in complete chaos."

She continued, "Last year, I posted that 'reforms initiated with animosity cannot succeed.' Unfortunately, I am witnessing those bitter words turning into reality," and added, "The defendant ought to admit that my warning was correct and apologize, yet they are using extremely trivial expressions from my post to justify a demotion personnel action."

The Ministry of Justice rebutted, "The posts that the plaintiff uploaded immediately after being assigned were all insulting remarks directed at the prosecution leadership and carried a strong potential for violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection," asking, "How could we not issue a personnel transfer when she was not devoting herself to her duties and only posting on E-Pros?"

The court concluded the arguments today and decided to hold the ruling at 2:00 PM on December 3.

Prosecutor Jung was transferred from her position as a senior prosecutor (chief prosecutor equivalent) to a prosecutor at the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office during a high-level prosecution (formerly public prosecutors' office) reshuffle in December of last year while serving as a research commissioner at the Justice Research and Training Institute, effectively demoting her from the chief prosecutor level to a high-prosecutors' office level position.

Inside and outside the legal circles, evaluations circulated that the move was a disciplinary measure.

In response, Prosecutor Jung filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Justice to cancel the personnel order the day after the personnel announcement.

The first instance court dismissed Prosecutor Jung's claim that it was a disciplinary demotion, but ruled in favor of the plaintiff on the grounds that the ministry abused its personnel discretionary power by carrying out an exceptional transfer without even providing an opportunity for explanation.

(Photo: Yonhap News)