Prosecutors' Office "Exodus" Becoming Reality? 58 Resignations This Year Alone

Nearly One-Third of Last Year's Prosecutors Have Already Resigned
Special Prosecutor Dispatches and Leaves of Absence Add to Worsening Staff Shortage

As the criminal justice system is being completely overhauled, the prosecution is experiencing an accelerating outflow of personnel, leading to complaints that normal work has become difficult.

According to the Ministry of Justice on March 28, 58 prosecutors retired between January and March of this year, and 67 personnel were dispatched to five special prosecutors. This number exceeds the current staff of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office (106 people), which is the second largest in the country. Last year, 175 prosecutors resigned, marking the highest number in a decade, and in just three months, an additional one-third of last year’s resignations have already left. In addition, as some junior prosecutors who recently expressed their intention to resign have not yet completed the process, the number of retirees could exceed 60.

The number of prosecutors on leave has also increased. According to the office of Assemblyman Ju Jinwoo of the People Power Party, the total number of prosecutors on leave last year was 132, the highest since 2016. Compared to 99 in 2024, this represents an increase of about 25% in just one year.

Some prosecutor’s offices now have fewer than half of their authorized personnel actually working. In the 10 district prosecutors' offices with deputy chief prosecutors, actual staff amounted to only about 55% of the authorized total. Specifically, at the Cheonan Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, the authorized number is 35, but only 17 are actually working. The Anyang Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office also has an authorized staff of 34, but only 17 are present—just half of the total.

On March 25, Prosecutor An Mihyeon (Cheonan Branch, Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 41) posted on Facebook under the title "Bankrupt Branch." She wrote, "Of the prosecutors currently working, seven at the Cheonan Branch are first-time appointees for whom this is their inaugural assignment," and lamented, "People have been sent elsewhere under various pretexts such as special prosecutors or joint investigation units."

Prosecutor An added, "Yesterday, I heard that a prosecutor at a provincial office collapsed and was admitted to the intensive care unit. Today, a junior colleague at our office—who seemed to treat working late as a daily routine—ended up in the emergency room. Each investigator is already handling over 500 pending cases, and each prosecutor has more than 100 cases that were not forwarded for prosecution. Even with weekday overtime and weekend work, the workload is unmanageable," she appealed.

As a result of these circumstances, the backlog of unresolved cases continues to grow. The number of unresolved cases at prosecution offices nationwide increased by 49.1%, from 64,546 in 2024 to 96,256 last year. As of February this year, 121,563 cases remain pending. Although efforts are being made within the prosecution to handle as many remaining cases as possible before the launch of the new prosecution office in October, the situation is reportedly not improving.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.