Former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker No Woong-rae, who was indicted on charges of receiving 60 million won ($43,000) in illegal political funds, attends the first-instance sentencing at Seoul Central District Court on Nov. 26 last year. [Yonhap]
Former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker No Woong-rae, who was indicted on charges of receiving 60 million won ($43,000) in illegal political funds, attends the first-instance sentencing at Seoul Central District Court on Nov. 26 last year. [Yonhap]

Ruling and opposition parties clashed Saturday after former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker No Woong-rae was acquitted on appeal of charges that he received illegal political funds. The Democratic Party demanded an apology from independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who served as justice minister at the time, accusing him of orchestrating a "fabricated prosecution." Han fired back, calling on the Assembly to play the cash-envelope audio recording together.

Democratic Party spokesperson Shin Hyeon-yeong said in a written briefing Saturday that "it took a full three years and nine months to correct the fabricated indictment and fabricated investigation carried out by Han Dong-hoon's political prosecutors, who abused state power." She said Han "must apologize for turning an innocent person into a criminal."

The party took particular issue with remarks Han made in December 2022, when, as justice minister, he addressed the National Assembly to explain the need for a motion to consent to No's arrest, saying the recording captured even "the rustling sound of the cash envelope."

Shin also rebuffed Han's claim that the acquittal stemmed from illegally obtained evidence, saying he was "confessing to the atrocities committed by prosecutors who carried out an unlawful investigation."

She then raised Han's refusal to provide his iPhone passcode during a past investigation into alleged collusion between prosecutors and the media, saying, "If you want to conduct your Assembly duties with your head held high, first fully account for your own case — the one where you concealed your iPhone passcode to the very end."

Han responded immediately. In a Facebook post, he said the audio recording of a conversation between a broker's wife and No — which was played in court during the trial — contained far more than the "rustling of a cash envelope": it "vividly captured the conversation that took place after the money was received."

Han added, "If you're going to keep insisting you did nothing wrong and have been treated unjustly, let's all sit down together in the Assembly and listen to that recording." He said it "will be invaluable material for the public to judge the true nature of President Lee Jae Myung and the Democratic Party politicians who are shielding a politician who took a cash envelope."

Han also went on the offensive over President Lee's apology to No. On Friday, Lee — who had excluded No from the party's candidate list for the 2024 general election while serving as Democratic Party leader — apologized, saying he had no choice but to sacrifice No for the sake of the broader election by going along with what he called the misconduct of political prosecutors.

Han criticized this as "performing melodrama over No's cash-envelope case," calling it "a transparent setup to build toward dropping the charges."

The People Power Party also weighed in. PPP chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said the acquittal "is not a ruling that confirmed the substantive truth that No did not receive the money," adding that "the exclusion of evidence on admissibility grounds and the claim that the prosecution's investigation was fabricated are entirely separate matters."

Park said it was "even more brazen" that President Lee — who as Democratic Party leader had personally decided to exclude No from the candidate list — was now "shifting even that responsibility onto 'political prosecutors.'"

Park said the PPP "will never stand by while the No Woong-rae case is used as a shield to erase the president's own legal risks through cheap judicial self-protection politics."


sjy@heraldcorp.com