Noh Man-seok: "My Decision to Forgo an Appeal Was for the Prosecution Service—Someday, I Will Speak About It"

[The Financial News] On the 14th, Noh Man-seok, who is stepping down as Acting Prosecutor General of South Korea, stated, "Forgoing the appeal was a decision made for the prosecution service from a managerial perspective."
In an interview with JoongAng Ilbo the previous day, Noh was asked if he had given up the Daejang-dong appeal to protect the prosecution’s supplementary investigative authority. He responded, "That is a separate issue. Supplementary investigative authority and full case transfer are essential for the prosecution, for the sake of the public. The Prosecutor General should not focus on individual cases, but rather look at the organization from a managerial standpoint. In that sense, one must also consider Yongsan District and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ)," he explained.
According to the media, when asked if he intended to reveal the full story behind the decision to forgo the appeal, Noh replied, "There will be an opportunity to speak about it someday. But now is not the time. Once a public official accepts a directive from above, it becomes their own opinion at that moment."
He added, "If you accept a superior’s directive and later claim it was external pressure or coercion, wouldn’t that lead to rampant allegations of abuse of authority everywhere? If it had truly been an unacceptable demand, I would have resigned rather than comply. But I accepted it, and at that moment, it became my decision."
Noh remarked, "A public official should remain silent when leaving the organization." However, he emphasized, "But I do want to speak about the issue of supplementary investigative authority. The prosecution is not just an organization of prosecutors. It is a place where about 10,000 people, including over 6,000 investigators and 2,000 administrative and support staff, work together. For them, investigations are their lifeblood."
When asked whether he had told prosecutors at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office that he regretted forgoing the appeal, he said, "If I were Doctor Strange from the Marvel movies, I could go back to that day (the 7th) and find the right answer among a thousand or ten thousand possibilities. But I don’t think I found the right answer then."
Noh also commented, "Do you know why, on the morning I submitted my resignation, I entered through the main entrance where reporters were gathered instead of the basement? Looking back, it’s not that I have no regrets, but it was a decision made for the organization, and because I was confident in that, I felt I should enter through the front door."
Noh will hold his retirement ceremony at 10:30 a.m. today and leave the prosecution service. While the ceremony will be closed to the public, his farewell address is expected to be released.


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