Former Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo [Yonhap]
Former Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo [Yonhap]

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo stepped up pressure on independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, calling for a full investigation into him after Kim Seung-won withdrew as the nominee for justice minister.

Hong posted on SNS on Saturday, invoking the case of the late lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan, who was indicted and received a suspended sentence — losing his Assembly seat — after exposing prosecutors he alleged had received bribes from Samsung and revealing the source of that information. "I wonder what will become of Han Dong-hoon this time," Hong wrote.

Hong went on to say that if Han had obtained materials related to his duties while in office and used them for disclosures after secretly receiving them from prosecutors, "he may have succeeded in drawing political attention, but it will become an occasion to reflect again on whether the problem lies in the illegality of the process or in the content of the disclosures."

"Now that Kim Seung-won has stepped down, I don't think this will remain a topic of conversation much longer — all that's left is the investigation of Han Dong-hoon," Hong said. He added that Han would find it difficult to escape this time, given that the "party member bulletin board case" was already under investigation. "This is just piling on top of that," he said.

Earlier that day, Kim held a press conference at the National Assembly's communication room and abruptly withdrew his nomination, saying he "thought it would not be right to add further burden to the government." The withdrawal came 20 days after his nomination.


min3654@heraldcorp.com