Prosecutors' decision to abandon appeal sparks controversy. Yonhap News. 

Lawyer groups have voiced criticism regarding the prosecution's decision to waive their right to appeal the first-instance ruling in the Daejang-dong development corruption case.

According to legal circles on the 12th, the conservative Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of the Korean Peninsula (Hanbyeon) stated in a statement released the previous day, "This is a corruption case of the century where astronomical sums were at stake and co-conspirators of the incumbent president are on trial, drawing immense public attention." They argued, "The abandonment of unprecedented judicial justice by the state is the responsibility of the Lee Jae-myung administration."

Hanbyeon asserted, "It is difficult to find a precedent where prosecutors abandoned an appeal in a case where the core of the indictment was acquitted," and claimed, "It cannot be denied that the president's burden has been significantly lightened."

The non-profit lawyer group, Lawmakers Making Good Laws (Chakhanbeop), also issued a statement on the 10th, calling it an "unprecedented decision that severely damages public trust in the criminal justice process and self-blocks the opportunity to recover astronomical criminal proceeds." They urged, "The Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office should disclose the circumstances and investigate, through an independent body, any abnormal directives, procedural distortions, or omissions in legal review during the case handling process."

Yonhap News