Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho remains at odds with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) over the final stage of the administration's proposed prosecution reform, risking his Cabinet post in defense of prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers.

Jung and the DPK share the broader goal of prosecution reform — one of President Lee Jae Myung's signature policy agendas — which seeks to separate prosecutors' long-held powers to both press charges and conduct investigations.

Where they diverge is over the details. Jung argues that prosecutors should retain supplementary investigative powers as a limited tool to verify evidence and address shortcomings in police investigations, while the DPK insists the authority must be abolished entirely, citing a long-standing pattern of prosecutors' abuse of powers.

"Supplementary investigations are not investigations in the conventional sense," the justice minister said earlier this year. “To properly decide whether to indict and sustain a prosecution, prosecutors need a mechanism to support those decisions.”

He went on to say that without adequate safeguards, abolishing the authority could “leave socially vulnerable people inadequately protected."

Jung voiced a similar concern last year, warning that a new agency set to launch in October to take over prosecutors' investigative powers over serious crimes should remain under the Ministry of Justice, as the prosecution has traditionally been. The agency is instead slated to operate under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, alongside the police.

A lawyer before entering politics, Jung has consistently argued that prosecution reform should not simply shift excessive investigative power from prosecutors to police.

Justice ministry officials said Jung grew increasingly frustrated as both the government and the ruling party are geared toward fully abolishing supplementary investigative powers, despite his repeatedly raising such concerns during internal discussions.

"The minister saw the establishment of separate prosecution and investigation agencies as the final mission of his tenure. But he felt there was little point in remaining once his recommendations were no longer accepted,” a ministry official said.

Against that backdrop, Jung offered to step down after the DPK formally adopted the abolition of supplementary investigative powers as party policy last week.

Political observers say his decision was also shaped by the government's move to align itself with the DPK's position. For instance, before leaving office last month, former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said the government would leave the matter of prosecution reform to the National Assembly and the ruling party and would not present a separate government proposal.

Cheong Wa Dae, meanwhile, said it has not confirmed whether Jung had formally conveyed his intention to resign to the president.

Both ruling and opposition parties called on him to remain in office, for starkly different reasons.

The DPK urged Jung to lead the launch of the new agencies that will separate prosecution and investigation.

The main opposition People Power Party, for its part, said that if abolishing prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers is serious enough to prompt Jung to offer his resignation, he should then remain in his position to protect the criminal justice system instead of stepping down.

The DPK plans to bring the bill to a vote at a plenary session, Thursday.