Both prosecutors found to have violated professional duties; each handed one-month pay cut

Prosecutor Choi Jae-hyun, then assigned to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office, answers questions from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jeon Hyun-hee during a National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 22 last year, which examined the disappearance of a Shinhan Bank cash-bundle band seized in the "Geonjinbeobsa" investigation. [Yonhap]
Prosecutor Choi Jae-hyun, then assigned to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office, answers questions from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jeon Hyun-hee during a National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 22 last year, which examined the disappearance of a Shinhan Bank cash-bundle band seized in the "Geonjinbeobsa" investigation. [Yonhap]

By Yang Geun-hyuk, The Herald Business

The Ministry of Justice has imposed a pay-cut penalty on prosecutor Choi Jae-hyun, who had been investigated by the standing special prosecutor's team (Special Prosecutor Ahn Kwon-seop) over allegations that a Shinhan Bank cash-bundle band seized at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office was destroyed. Prosecutor Ahn Mi-hyun, who drew controversy over a law school final-exam question leak, received the same punishment.

The ministry announced Tuesday through the Official Gazette that it had imposed a one-month pay cut on Choi, currently assigned to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, and on Ahn, assigned to the Cheonan Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors Office, effective Monday under the Prosecutors Disciplinary Act. Both were found to have violated their professional duties.

According to the ministry, during a search and seizure at the home of Jeon Seong-bae — known by the moniker "Geonjinbeobsa" — on Dec. 17, 2024, Choi obtained cash wrapped in sealed vinyl packaging and bound with a Shinhan Bank band but failed to record the specific details in the seizure inventory, allowing the packaging and band to be damaged and destroyed. The ministry also cited as grounds for discipline the fact that Choi learned of the damage and destruction on Jan. 9 last year yet did not report it to his supervisors.

Choi appeared before the standing special prosecutor's team as a suspect in its investigation into the destruction of the cash-bundle band but was not indicted. The team concluded that while deficiencies in the seizure inventory kept by the lead prosecutor's office had been confirmed, they amounted to a professional error rather than conduct subject to criminal punishment. It referred the matters of mishandled evidence and delayed reporting to the ministry for disciplinary action.

Ahn's disciplinary grounds stemmed from an incident on Nov. 20 last year, when she was lecturing on "Prosecution Practice 1" at Hanyang University School of Law. During a session in which final-exam questions were being discussed, she displayed on the classroom screen a list of criminal charges — with certain offenses highlighted — that had been under consideration for the exam, compromising the fairness of the final and leading to a retake.

The ministry said in December last year that it had confirmed that, ahead of the "Prosecution Practice 1" final held May 29, a class at a particular school had covered material on "regulations governing the listing of charges in indictments and non-prosecution decisions" — going beyond the scope agreed upon in advance — and that highlighted charges had been shown to students, some of which appeared on the actual exam.

The ministry added that while prosecutors who lecture at law schools nationwide coordinate their syllabi to ensure uniform instruction, the class in question had gone beyond the agreed scope, and that it had decided to hold a retake after determining the incident could significantly affect the fairness of assessment.

Under the Prosecutors Disciplinary Act, disciplinary measures for prosecutors fall into five categories: dismissal, removal from office, suspension, pay cut and reprimand.


yg@heraldcorp.com