Is probe into South Korea’s ex-first lady Kim at risk over protest of new law?

A mutiny by South Korean prosecutors who are investigating former first lady Kim Keon-hee has exposed deep divisions in the country’s justice system and resistance against reforming one of its most powerful agencies.

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All 40 prosecutors assigned to a special counsel probing alleged misconduct by Kim, the wife of former president Yoon Suk-yeol, submitted a joint statement on Tuesday declaring their intention to withdraw from the case.

All 40 prosecutors assigned to a special counsel probing alleged misconduct by Kim, the wife of former president Yoon Suk-yeol, submitted a joint statement on Tuesday, declaring their intention to withdraw from the case at the earliest possible date.

The move came after the government on Friday passed a law to dismantle the prosecution office’s decades-old control over both investigations and indictments.

The protest – one of the most significant acts of resistance by serving government officials in recent memory – is threatening to derail the probe into Kim and lead to a clash between lawmakers seeking reform and prosecutors fighting to preserve their long-held powers, according to analysts.

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“Ironically, the prosecutors’ collective act of defiance underscores the need to push through with the reform drive,” said Lim Sung-hack, a political-science professor at the University of Seoul.

  

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