Still on a crusade for prosecution reform?

Cho and most members bidding for proportional seats were found guilty on criminal charges in lower courts or are on trial. The country is going in the strange direction before the election.

Park Eun-jeong, a former senior prosecutor tapped as the first proportional representative candidate for a new party led by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, reported that her assets combined with her spouse’s increased by 4.1 billion won ($3 million) over a year. The money was earned mostly by her husband who became a lawyer last year after retiring from the prosecution. The couple amassed such huge wealth in just a year thanks to their prosecutorial credentials, and yet Park has become the face of the new party which vows to fight the “prosecution-based dictatorship” by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Park was dismissed earlier this month for sharing copies of sensitive materials she secured while heading an internal investigation into President Yoon when he was the prosecutor general with the internal inspection committee of the Justice Ministry, an act that violates the Personal Information Protection Act. She was courted into Cho’s party shortly after she was sacked.

Park’s husband Lee Jong-keun also left the prosecution last year after serving as a senior prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. The couple last May reported combined assets of 875.3 million won. But when registering herself as an election candidate, Park reported their wealth at 4.98 billion won, a whopping 4.1-billion-won increase in just one year.

On Facebook, Park said her husband worked on 15 cases per month, dealing with 160 cases by the time she reported their wealth. Former prosecutors or judges who became lawyers after serving at high posts enjoy advantages from their career. The political bias does not matter.

Lawyers with prosecutorial credentials often come under fire for amassing riches soon after opening their own business. For instance, former Supreme Court justice Ahn Dae-hee had to give up prime ministerial nomination because he earned 1.6 billion won in just five months after he retired.

Park claims that there had not been any benefits from their prosecutorial connections. But in practicing law, the couple would have enjoyed the leverage. It is contradictory for Park to represent a party chanting prosecution reform.

Kim Joon-hyung, candidate No. 6 in Cho’s party, has prompted controversy over his son’s dual citizenship, possibly to avoid conscription. The former chancellor of Korea National Diplomatic Academy had been critical of the Korea-U.S. alliance. He said his son has filed for a Korean citizenship and will subscribe for conscription after graduating a U.S. college. Cho and most members bidding for proportional seats were found guilty on criminal charges in lower courts or are on trial. The country is going in the strange direction before the election.