‘Second Daejang-dong Investigation Team’ Prosecutor Kang Baeksin Resigns... Submits Resignation to Daegu High Prosecutors’ Office

Key Prosecutor in Daejang-dong and Wirye Cases

Publicly Opposed Abolition of Prosecution Service and National Assembly Inquiry

Kang Baeksin, Prosecutor at the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office (34th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), who led the investigation into allegations of corruption in the Daejang-dong and Wirye development projects involving President Lee Jaemyung, has submitted his resignation.

Kang Baeksin, Prosecutor at Daegu High Prosecutors' Office, answering questions. Yonhap News Agency

According to the legal community on August 10, Prosecutor Kang tendered his resignation at the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office in the morning, expressing his intention to step down.

Prosecutor Kang, known within the prosecution as a leading “special cases expert,” was part of the Park Youngsoo special prosecutor’s team that investigated the Park Geun-hye administration’s influence-peddling scandal. Afterwards, he handled investigations and prosecution maintenance for allegations of corruption involving former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's family.

After being appointed chief of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Department 3 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022, Kang led the so-called “second Daejang-dong investigation team” along with Um Huijun, who was then the chief of the first anti-corruption department. The team investigated the Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town development corruption allegations, resulting in the arrest and indictment of Kim Yong, former deputy director of the Institute for Democracy, and Jeong Jin-sang, former political affairs chief of the Minjoo Party leader’s office. Lee Jaemyung, then leader of the Minjoo Party, was also indicted for charges including breach of trust.

In 2023, after moving to head the first anti-corruption department, Prosecutor Kang led a special investigative team probing the “presidential election interference and public opinion rigging case,” investigating media outlets such as Newstapa and journalists.

He has spoken out publicly against prosecution reform. In September 2025, when a government reorganization bill abolishing the prosecution service passed the National Assembly, he posted on the prosecution’s internal bulletin board that it was “the day the Constitution, not just the prosecution service, was abolished.” When the prosecution decided not to appeal the Daejang-dong case, he also argued that the Ministry of Justice had opposed filing an appeal.

This year, when investigations he led became the subject of a National Assembly inquiry into “alleged manipulative prosecutions for the political benefit of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration,” he testified at the inquiry in April, protesting that the process was unconstitutional and unlawful, claiming its purpose was to intervene in investigations or trials.

In 2024, the Minjoo Party submitted a motion to impeach Prosecutor Kang, claiming he abused his investigative powers and infringed on press freedom during the presidential election interference and public opinion rigging investigation. The motion remains pending in the National Assembly.

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