A local prosecutor has lost his post for holding memberships to political parties in breach of a law banning civil servants from political activities, the Justice Ministry said Thursday.

The 33-year-old man surnamed Yoon has been removed from his position as a prosecutor in accordance with a decision made in a disciplinary committee for prosecutors, it said.

Yoon, who worked at the eastern branch of the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office, was indicted in August on charges of holding two memberships, one with the Uri Party, which is today’s main opposition Democratic Party, and one with the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party.

He gained the memberships in March 2004 and retained them even after being employed as a prosecutor in February, this year, according to the ministry.

He then gave up the memberships after the prosecution began looking into politically active civil servants in June.

The National Public Service Law prohibits political activities by public officials in order to secure political impartiality in public affairs.

“The dismissal reflects prosecutor Yoon‘s breach of his official duty of political neutrality and his impairment of his dignity as a prosecutor,” a ministry official said. (Yonhap News)