"No cooperation with prosecutors, no data received"

Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the Democratic Party of Korea, chair of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, walks past independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon as he answers reporters' questions about Justice Minister candidate Kim Seung-won at the National Assembly's Rotunda Hall on Wednesday. (Yonhap)
Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the Democratic Party of Korea, chair of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, walks past independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon as he answers reporters' questions about Justice Minister candidate Kim Seung-won at the National Assembly's Rotunda Hall on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on Wednesday lashed out at the Democratic Party of Korea for defending Justice Minister candidate Kim Seung-won against allegations that he solicited favors involving a new drug. Han said Democratic Party Rep. Seo Young-kyo had called for his arrest on the National Assembly floor.

In a Facebook post that day, Han wrote, "Rep. Seo Young-kyo, guardian of the flasher who was too scared of me to even summon as a witness -- planning 'martial law' now, are you?"

Speaking to reporters at the National Assembly that day, Han said, "Democratic Party Leader Kim Min-seok baselessly claimed, purely on his own speculation, that I cooperated with prosecutors and received materials from them, insisting it had to be the case." "I will file a complaint against Kim on charges of spreading false information," he said.

He added, "I do not think there would be a problem even if prosecutors or police gave data to a lawmaker to publicly expose a case that was not properly handled." "Even if I had received it that way, I would have disclosed it. But since there has been so much talk about this, let me clarify that I did not receive anything from prosecutors."

He also said, "I received no cooperation or data of any kind from prosecutors. Do not assume every lawmaker is as incompetent as they are," adding, "It seems only those with no right to say such things are the ones speaking up."

Rebuffing the Democratic Party's claim that he had released a doctored transcript, Han said, "There has been no splicing or editing of any kind," adding, "I urge the Democratic Party to face the facts and common sense."

Han said, "In this case, 'oppa' is the essence of the matter. 'Oppa' is the single word that captures unfairness and favoritism" (a Korean term used to address an older male acquaintance). He added, "Candidate Kim should answer whether he went to the broker's home and took a photo alone with him."


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