‘Gangster killer’ calls it quits after 29 years

Cho Seung-sik

Nicknamed “the gangster killer,” Cho Seung-sik, a prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, resigned from his post earlier this month.
The 56-year-old, who headed the criminal investigation unit, held his resignation ceremony on March 6 at the office’s headquarters.
Throughout his 29-year-career as a prosecutor, Cho was a specialist in investigating gangsters. Since his start in 1981 as a prosecutor at Jeonju District Office in North Jeolla, he arrested hundreds of gangsters across the country. Notorious gangster bosses such as Kim Tae-chon, Lee Yuk-rae, Lee Kang-hwan and Chun Dal-nam all fell to Cho’s indictments.
Kim, a gang leader in the Jeolla area in 1990, proved a particularly formidable foe, Cho recalled. To stake out Kim, Cho carried a gun and worked undercover for six months. “Gangsters pretend they are gentlemen,” Cho said, “but they are fierce in their acquisitions. During my career I never met a single ‘real man’ among the gangsters.”
While witnessing his wife’s fight against cancer for more than 10 years, the prosecutor transferred his pain to the gangsters he put behind bars. “While my wife struggled against cancer, I had to investigate gangsters night and day to relieve my concerns,” Cho said. Once appointed a prosecutor in charge of violent crimes at the Busan District Office in 1990, Cho indicted 50 gangsters in one year. As a veteran prosecutor at the Suwon District Office, he indicted 75 gangsters.
With his accomplishments in the field, the former prosecutor deserves a break, but Cho has decided to head straight for another challenge. He’ll begin defending the public from now on as a lawyer at Hankyul, a firm in Korea.

By Jo Kang-su JoongAng Ilbo [enational@joongang.co.kr]