Did top prosecutor cause himself to announce his resignation?

Prosecutor-General Han Sang-dae had one of his staff members take out his car and leave his office building Thursday evening, but Han remained in his office to fine-tune his reform plan for the prosecution into Friday morning.

Through Thursday afternoon, Han looked unaffected by the pressure to unconditionally resign from other prosecutors. He even said he would release his reform plan at 2 p.m. Friday but canceled it in the morning and resigned at 10 a.m.

When Han changed his mind remains unknown. He is known to have decided to resign after hearing opinions over the feared spread of conflicts among prosecutors from the presidential office and the Justice Ministry between Thursday night and Friday morning.

A source at the presidential office said, “It’s hard to think of an alternative to the resignation of the top prosecutor given the incidents involving prosecutors before the presidential election. Han must have understood the concerns of the presidential office.”

Another official said, “Han probably heard the stance of the presidential office from Justice Minister Kwon Jae-jin. He might have thought resignation was a better choice because he has little chance of being reappointed by the presidential office. If he isn`t reappointed, there’ll be no one to push ahead with his reform plan. So there`d be no point to announce his plan.”

At 8 a.m. Friday, Han appeared before reporters and media cameras on his way to his office, looking comfortable about his decision. In a meeting with high-ranking officials of the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office before a news conference, the prosecutor-general said, “I should’ve retired a week ago. I have no idea why I had to postpone my resignation until today. I`m sorry to the central investigation department.” A prosecution official said, “A smile returned to Han’s face. He had his usual look of a rational thinker.”

As a result, Han announced his resignation and left his office without unveiling his prosecution reform plan. He might have been convinced that he must include the abolition of the central investigation department in his plan. Han had ordered an open probe into Choi Jae-kyong, the head of SPO`s central investigation unit, to attack the core of the opposition force, which ignited controversy and eventually led to Han`s downfall.

ceric@donga.com