Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) on the 19th against four individuals from the prosecution and the Ministry of Justice regarding the prosecution's decision to waive its appeal in the first-instance ruling of the Daejang-dong case.

Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin. Provided by Seongnam City.

Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin submitted the complaint to the CIO against four individuals: Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, Vice Minister of Justice Lee Jin-soo, former acting Prosecutor General Noh Man-seok (abuse of power and obstruction of business), and former Seoul Central District Prosecutor Jeon Jin-woo (dereliction of duty).

In its complaint, Seongnam City stated, "The prosecution's decision to waive the appeal has legitimized hundreds of billions of won in public assets that should have returned to the citizens of Seongnam to criminals, and it is an act that systematically obstructed the Seongnam citizens' right to reclaim public assets." The city demanded, "Please conduct a thorough investigation and punish them if their guilt is recognized."

The city argued, "Even considering only the amount of forfeiture recognized, the prosecution's failure to appeal, despite the first-instance ruling falling significantly short of public interest standards, constitutes an illegal waiver of appeal."

The first-instance court ruled most of the core charges against the Daejang-dong group not guilty, and of the 788.6 billion won in criminal proceeds that the prosecution sought to confiscate, only 47.3 billion won was recognized for forfeiture. This is only one-tenth of the 489.5 billion won in damages incurred by the Seongnam Development Corporation and about one-fifth of the 207 billion won in pre-secured forfeiture preservation funds, the city explained.

Furthermore, the city claimed, "Minister Han's effective communication of the intent to waive the appeal, and Vice Minister Lee's mention of the possibility of exercising investigative authority to former acting Prosecutor General Noh, pressuring him to waive the appeal, are illegal acts that clearly exceed the scope of command and supervision stipulated in Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act."

The city also stated, "Former acting Prosecutor General Noh and former District Prosecutor Jeon, despite recognizing the impropriety of the superior's instructions, did not refuse but complied and ordered the waiver of appeal for an already approved appeal, thus constituting joint principals in the illegal abuse of power."

In particular, it pointed out, "Former District Prosecutor Jeon, despite the unanimous opinion of the investigative and trial prosecutors on the necessity of an appeal, and having personally approved the appeal brief, thereby confirming the appeal, yielded to the superior's illegal instructions and abandoned the duty to appeal. This constitutes dereliction of duty, betraying the public duty (duty to appeal) to recover the public's property rights."

Mayor Shin stated, "This complaint is to rectify the situation where the astronomical development profits that should have gone to the citizens of Seongnam have effectively been a pardon for criminals," adding, "The CIO must thoroughly investigate whether there was improper command and interference by high-ranking officials, strictly punish those involved, and ensure that the Seongnam citizens' legitimate opportunity to reclaim their property is restored."

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