Anchor: The chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has offered to step down amid internal protests after the prosecution chose not to appeal a ruling in the high-profile Daejang-dong corruption case. Five people have been convicted in the case, and all five have filed appeals, but in the absence of any action by the prosecution none of them will be receiving harsher sentences.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: The head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has offered to resign after the prosecution decided not to appeal a ruling in the Daejang-dong development case, which centered on corruption in the city of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at the time when President Lee Jae Myung was mayor.

In a press notice on Saturday, one day after the state agency decided not to appeal the sentences of five people convicted of breach of trust under the Criminal Act, the Seoul central office said its chief prosecutor, Jung Jin-woo, had tendered his resignation.

On October 31, the Seoul Central District Court handed down eight-year sentences both to Kim Man-bae, the largest shareholder of asset management firm Hwacheon Daeyu, at the center of the scandal, and Yoo Dong-gyu, a former executive at the Seongnam Development Corporation.

The other three people convicted in the case got sentences ranging from four to six years. 

Though the prosecution’s leadership, including the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, initially intended to appeal their sentences, the justice ministry reportedly decided this was unwarranted.

A prosecution team that handled the case protested the decision, saying it had been waiting to file the appeals within seven days of the ruling, meaning 12 a.m. Saturday was the deadline.

But on Friday afternoon, the team said, it suddenly received instructions from the agency’s leadership to hold off, with no clear explanation, calling the directive “unjust” and “unprecedented.”

Meanwhile, Kim, Yoo and the other three have appealed their convictions, meaning they may be found not guilty or get lighter sentences if their convictions are upheld. 

The scandal centers on allegations that Hwacheon Daeyu and other private asset management firms were allowed to reap excessive profits while the city incurred significant losses in the Daejang-dong development project in 2015, when President Lee served as the mayor.

President Lee’s separate trial on related charges was postponed indefinitely after he took office in June this year.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.