President Park Geun-hye on Saturday accepted the resignation of the country’s top prosecutor embroiled in a scandal involving an alleged illegitimate son, the presidential office said.
President Park accepted the resignation by Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook, who allegedly fathered a son in an extramarital affair in 2002, on concerns that a prolonged absence of a top prosecutor is feared to hamper operations of the prosecution, according to an official at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
Chae offered to resign on Sept. 13, a week after the country’s largest-circulation daily Chosun Ilbo raised such allegations in its report. He denied the allegations, but said he was resigning as they would make it difficult for him to carry out his duties as chief prosecutor.
“President Park had wanted Chae to reveal the truth by himself and cooperate with a probe (into the scandal). But he did not,” senior presidential press secretary Lee Jung-hyun told reporters.
“A lengthy absence in the chief prosecutor post is feared to prevent the prosecution from carrying out its roles. That’s why President Park accepted the resignation.”
Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has recommended President Park accept the resignation as there is “sufficient” evidence supporting the allegations, according to the justice ministry.
(Yonhap News)
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