Han Dong-hoon's complaint against Choo Mi-ae closed after 5 years as prosecutors return case file

Choo posted excerpt of Yoon's disciplinary decision on social media, alleging he and Han plotted 'referral instigation'; Han filed complaint with CIO; police found insufficient evidence; prosecutors return file without requesting reinvestigation

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon. [Yonhap]

A complaint filed by independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon against Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae — accusing her of spreading false information about him — has been resolved after five years. Police closed the case in 2024 citing insufficient evidence, and prosecutors have since confirmed they see no grounds to challenge that decision, returning the case file to police.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's First Criminal Division, led by Chief Prosecutor Kim Ho-kyung, returned the case file to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Aug. 21, according to reporting by The Herald Business.

Returning a case file is the procedural step by which prosecutors, after reviewing a police decision not to refer a case for indictment, send the records back without requesting further investigation or charges. While not a formal disposition in itself, it is understood to mark the administrative conclusion of the investigative process, signifying that prosecutors accept and agree with the police's decision. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which had handled the investigation, issued a no-referral decision in July 2024 on grounds of insufficient evidence.

The case stemmed from a Facebook post by Choo related to the so-called "referral instigation" allegations that surfaced during the Moon Jae-in administration. Those allegations centered on claims that prosecutors, during former President Yoon Suk Yeol's tenure as prosecutor general, directed the then-opposition United Future Party — now the People Power Party — to file criminal complaints against key pro-government figures ahead of the April 2020 general election.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae. [Yoon Chang-bin]

On Sept. 3, 2021, Choo posted on her Facebook page a photograph of part of the disciplinary decision document issued against then-Prosecutor General Yoon Suk Yeol, along with a written account claiming that, just before the alleged referral instigation took place, Yoon had exchanged KakaoTalk messages on multiple occasions with Han — then serving as a prosecutor general-level official — as well as Kwon Sun-jeong, then spokesperson of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Son Jun-seong, then head of the office's investigation information policy division. The disciplinary document contained details from non-public audit and investigative materials.

In the post, Choo said that as justice minister she had ordered the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's audit division to verify the facts surrounding the so-called "Channel A case," which was reported on March 31, 2020. She wrote: "On April 1, it has been confirmed that former Prosecutor General Yoon Suk Yeol and Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon exchanged 12 phone calls, and that 45 group KakaoTalk messages were sent among Spokesperson Kwon Sun-jeong — who could be called Yoon's mouthpiece — Investigation Information Policy Director Son Jun-seong, who served as his eyes and ears, and Han Dong-hoon, who played the role of his brain."

She added: "On April 2, there were 17 phone calls between former Prosecutor General Yoon Suk Yeol and Han Dong-hoon, and 30 group KakaoTalk messages were exchanged among Han Dong-hoon, Kwon Sun-jeong and Son Jun-seong." She then wrote: "And, as it happens, the commissioned complaint was filed on April 3."

Choo also claimed: "A considerable volume of communication continued via KakaoTalk and phone calls after that — if it was connected to the commissioned complaint, it would likely not be unrelated to Han Dong-hoon's desperate refusal to provide his phone password and his efforts to block the search and seizure."

She further wrote that the "Channel A fact-finding report" contained detailed statements by Han suggesting he had plotted a crime using the prosecution's criminal intelligence unit — at the time headed by Son Jun-seong, the investigation information policy director who appears in the referral instigation case. She added: "It is presumed that Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, along with Han Dong-hoon and others, engaged in a conspiracy, and the traces of it are clearly visible."

Choo also cited the disciplinary decision, writing that it showed Han had spoken with Kim Keon Hee nine times over four months around that period and with Prosecutor General Yoon 397 times by phone, and that over three months Han had exchanged 332 KakaoTalk messages with Kim Keon Hee and 2,330 with Yoon.

The thrust of her post was that after the Channel A case became public, Yoon — then prosecutor general — and other prosecution officials had discussed plans to instigate complaints against pro-government figures.

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon. [Yonhap]

Han filed a complaint and criminal referral against Choo with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on Sept. 16, 2021. The referral alleged that Choo had unlawfully disclosed disciplinary-related materials she obtained while serving as justice minister, in violation of laws on official secrets and communications privacy. The complaint alleged she had spread false information by claiming he was involved in the referral instigation, constituting defamation. In a statement at the time, Han said Choo had "illegally leaked audit materials that were official secrets she learned in the course of her duties, as well as communications secrets whose disclosure is prohibited under the Communications Secrets Protection Act, and spread false information."

The case drifted through several investigative agencies after it was filed. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials transferred it to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which assigned it to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, which in turn handed it to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Police did not conduct a written inquiry of Choo until January 2023. During that process, Choo was said to have argued that the disciplinary document she posted on Facebook had been provided to her by a journalist from media reports already in circulation, and that her statements about Han were made in the public interest as a call for investigation.

Police issued a no-referral decision in July 2024 citing insufficient evidence. Prosecutors ultimately concluded there were no grounds to overturn that decision.

Prosecutors determined that some of the disciplinary document photographs Choo posted had already been reported in the media, and that the remaining content had largely been made public through prior press coverage, making it difficult to treat as an official secret.

On the defamation charge, prosecutors took into account the broader context in which various allegations surrounding the referral instigation and the Channel A case were being raised publicly through the media at the time. They concluded it was difficult to find that Choo had known her statements were false or that she had intended to defame Han.

Prosecutors returned the case file after determining that the police's no-referral decision could not be considered unlawful or improper, and that the deadline for requesting a reinvestigation had already passed.

Meanwhile, in the Channel A case — which arose from allegations that a journalist and a senior prosecutor had colluded to intimidate a source — reporter Lee Dong-jae and other journalists indicted on charges of attempted coercion were acquitted. Han was cleared without charges.

yg@heraldcorp.com