Seoul: Jung Jin-woo, the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, has offered to resign following the office's decision not to appeal a court ruling in a significant development scandal case. This decision, which aligns with the justice ministry's stance that the case did not merit an appeal, prompted Jung to submit his resignation after only four months in the position.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the controversy arose after the Seoul Central District Court sentenced five individuals to prison for their involvement in a corruption scandal linked to President Lee Jae Myung, dating back to his time as mayor of Seongnam. The convicted include Yoo Dong-gyu, the former acting president of Seongnam Development Corp., and Kim Man-bae, a major shareholder of asset management firm Hwacheon Daeyu, along with two lawyers and an accountant.

The scandal involves allegations that several lesser-known private asset management companies, including Hwacheon Daeyu, were granted extraordinary investment profits from a real estate development project in Seongnam's Daejang-dong district in 2015, when Lee served as the city's mayor. Lee's separate trial on charges of causing financial losses to Seongnam Development Corp. has been postponed indefinitely following his presidential election victory in June.

Earlier, Kang Baek-shin, a prosecutor involved in the case, expressed dissatisfaction in an internal bulletin, stating that he was prepared to file an appeal but was informed by senior leadership just hours before the deadline that the decision had been made not to appeal. Under the Criminal Procedure Act, if prosecutors choose not to appeal, the sentences cannot be increased due to the "prohibition of unfavorable changes," although all five defendants have filed appeals.