Resignations at the top leave justice ministry, prosecution in leadership vacuum ahead of prosecution office launch

With the launch of a new public prosecution office just over 40 days away in October, both the Justice Ministry and the prosecution have lost their top leaders, leaving a critical command vacuum. Concerns are mounting that preparations for the office's opening will be derailed, as key tasks — including revisions to subordinate regulations under the amended Code of Criminal Procedure, which strips prosecutors of their supplementary investigative powers, and a sweeping reorganization of personnel — now lack anyone at the helm to drive them forward.

Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho plans to minimize his public schedule until his resignation is formally approved, according to reporting Thursday. "It doesn't seem right to submit a resignation and then continue appearing at external events as minister," Jeong said. Most of his upcoming engagements are expected to be handled for now by Vice Minister of Justice Lee Jin-su.

Jeong, who had publicly signaled his intention to resign, submitted his resignation letter to Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Personnel Management on Tuesday after a Cabinet meeting held there. Later that day, as he left the ministry's Gwacheon offices, he said: "The revised Code of Criminal Procedure has passed, and what remains is the launch of the prosecution office — I don't have much of a role left. I judged that there is more for me to do in the National Assembly, helping with party unity and quickly correcting some of the problems that emerged during the amendment process." Cheong Wa Dae indicated it effectively accepts his resignation and has begun the process of selecting a successor, according to sources. If his resignation is accepted, Vice Minister Lee will serve as acting minister until a successor is appointed.

Acting Prosecutor General Gu Ja-hyeon, who also serves as deputy chief of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, submitted his resignation on July 31 — immediately after the amended Code of Criminal Procedure cleared the National Assembly — and has not reported to work in three weeks. With Minister Jeong now also stepping back from day-to-day duties, concerns are deepening that preparations for the new prosecution office, already sluggish, will fall further behind.

The Justice Ministry and the prosecution must overhaul investigative guidelines and other subordinate regulations in time for the amended code to take effect on Oct. 2, while also completing a restructuring of the prosecution's organizational chart and redeployment of its personnel. Consultations with relevant government agencies on how to reorganize and redeploy prosecution staff by function are ongoing, but the specific organizational structure remains at the review stage, sources said. Particularly pressing is the need to establish new operational procedures for how prosecutors — who will no longer be able to conduct supplementary investigations directly after the office opens — will handle requests to investigative agencies for such investigations and link those requests to indictment or non-indictment decisions.

Legal circles warn that the time available to draft subordinate regulations and practical guidelines, and to embed them in day-to-day operations before the new criminal justice framework takes effect, is dangerously tight. "It looks like we will need to issue a legislative notice on the regulations no later than early September," a Justice Ministry official said by phone. "That is the only way to get through the vice ministerial meeting and the Cabinet meeting in time for promulgation." The official added: "On the personnel side, a concrete plan also needs to be in place before Oct. 2, but it is difficult because we do not yet know how many prosecution staff will move to the new serious crimes investigation agency."