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Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl takes questions from reporters after announcing his resignation Thursday in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul. (Kim Hye-yun, staff photographer)

The ostensible reason for South Korean Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl’s sudden resignation Thursday was the ruling Democratic Party’s attempt to establish a new agency, separate from the prosecution service, to investigate serious crimes.

Under Yoon’s argument, tackling corruption is one of the constitutional duties of the state and the government. “If the prosecutors are completely stripped of their powers of investigation” through the establishment of this separate agency, Yoon said, “it would destroy the prosecutors and bring about the collapse of our system of combatting corruption.”

Yoon elaborated that position in a savage attack on the Democratic Party’s plans while announcing his resignation. “The spirit of the constitution and the rule of law, systems that have sustained our government, are being destroyed. All the resulting damage will fall upon the people,” he said.

But others think that Yoon’s resignation was largely influenced by political considerations. While the prosecutor general didn’t explicitly mention running for president, this was a chance for him to capitalize on his reputation as a public servant who stood up to the government and defended “the rule of law,” which is likely to be both his trademark and his political advantage in the future.

Yoon has never written off the possibility of entering politics, and he’s given the opposition party plenty of time to contemplate the prospect of fielding him as its candidate in next year’s presidential election.

Sources with the prosecution service think that Yoon couldn’t find any other valid course of action than resignation in the debate over the new investigative agency. Since rank-and-file prosecutors regard the establishment of the investigative agency — which is designed to separate the powers of investigation and indictment — as signifying the effective dismantlement of the prosecution service, the head of that service was purportedly compelled to make this difficult decision.

“With the ruling party rushing to pass the legislation in question and prosecutors publicly criticizing the proposed investigative agency, the prosecutor general has no choice but to join the fray,” said a lawyer with experience as a senior prosecutor.

“If Yoon had stayed quiet, he would have been criticized for sitting on his hands while his organization was dismantled. But fighting in the front lines would look highly inappropriate for a public official. That’s the position the prosecutor general was in, the same as all previous prosecutor generals who have resigned before the end of their term.”

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl leaves the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul after announcing his resignation Thursday. (Kim Myoung-jin, staff photographer)

When Yoon announced his resignation Thursday, he made no specific mention of entering politics. Even so, his remarks that “my role in the prosecution ends here” and that “I will continue doing my best to protect liberal democracy and the people as I always have, no matter where I am,” basically imply that he will be entering politics.

Yoon went one step further than his remark during a parliamentary audit in October 2020 that he would “think about how to serve the public and society [after resignation]” and his refusal to directly answer a question about whether such service might include politics.

Yoon’s actions over the past three days seemed to have been painstakingly prepared, and analysts believe they were ultimately calculated to attract the most political attention at the moment of his resignation.

Yoon deliberately criticized the ruling party’s plans to set up a new investigative agency in an interview with the press Tuesday. Having attracted public attention, Yoon continued his criticism during visits to offices of the prosecutors in Daegu Wednesday, employing polished phrases about “corruption reigning supreme” if “the prosecutors are fully stripped of their investigative authority.” Then he announced his intention to resign Thursday at the culmination of a seemingly planned sequence of events.

During his Wednesday visit to the conservative stronghold of Daegu, Yoon said it “feels like coming home.” Some regarded that as a bid for support from Korea’s conservatives and an attempt to make amends, given his role in the investigation of former president Park Geun-hye.

The legal community has previously offered conflicting predictions about whether Yoon will enter politics or run for president. Those who think a political career is unlikely point to Ahn Dae-hee, former head of the central investigative division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, and Hwang Kyo-ahn, former Minister of Justice, both of whom failed in recent attempts at political careers.

“Yoon is a believer in the prosecution service to his very bones. He’s resisting the ruling party with the goal of protecting his organization and its junior members, but in the end, he won’t go into politics,” one person said.

But other figures who are close to Yoon point out that “he’s always been very interested in a wide range of social and economic issues” and say that “since becoming prosecutor general, he has clearly wanted to engage in politics.”

“He’s definitely changed” over the past year, said one friend who is in frequent contact with Yoon. “It’s safe to assume that he’ll go into politics.”

While it’s hard to say how Yoon got interested in entering politics, what seems certain is that he made up his mind during his feud with former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae last year.

“The decisive factor was the personnel assignments that severely curtailed Yoon’s freedom of action. As [Choo Mi-ae] made hostile assignments, launched audits, and exercised her authority to conduct investigations, Yoon seems to have made up his mind to get personally involved [in politics],” said a senior member of the prosecution service who’s regarded as one of Yoon’s close allies.

But a junior prosecutor who’s close to Yoon said, “I’m not sure if he’ll stay in politics for long. Yoon’s personality is a good fit for the neat and orderly world of the prosecution service; he won’t find it easy to endure the conflicting interests of the world of politics.”

By Kim Kyung-wook, staff reporter

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