Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon attends the 10th plenary session of the 439th National Assembly regular session on Thursday. [Yonhap]
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon attends the 10th plenary session of the 439th National Assembly regular session on Thursday. [Yonhap]

'Roh probe was based on facts, not fabrication — Roh himself apologized to the public'

'Claim he was framed is gaslighting — a fiction the Democratic Party invented for its own gain'

On DP's demand for apology: 'What about the 300 million won Piaget watch, the hundreds of millions more?'

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on Saturday pushed back against claims that prosecutors fabricated their investigation into the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, calling the Democratic Party of Korea's effort to link the prosecution's abolition to Roh's legacy "gaslighting."

Han wrote on his Facebook page that day that the prosecution's investigation of Roh "was not fabricated — it was based on facts," adding that Roh himself had issued a public apology and never claimed the probe was a fabrication.

Han said the narrative that Roh had been victimized by a rigged investigation was "not something Roh himself ever said, but a fiction invented by Democratic Party political forces — the very people who were quickest to point fingers at Roh at the time, fearing the fallout would reach them — for their own benefit."

Han also directly challenged the Democratic Party's argument linking the abolition of the prosecution service to Roh. "The Democratic Party's 20 years of gaslighting — that abolishing the prosecution system is revenge for Roh, who was unjustly subjected to a fabricated investigation — is a fiction," he said. "Overcoming this is what gives South Korea a future."

Han posted the remarks alongside a video and photos of Jung Chung-rae, then Democratic Party leader, visiting Bongha Village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, on March 23, where Roh is buried. At the time, Jung said at Roh's grave: "I report to you, Mr. President. The prosecution service has been abolished and will disappear into history."

Han has raised questions about the investigation surrounding Roh every day since Thursday, ahead of the prosecution service's formal abolition.


hong@heraldcorp.com