Gwangju Regional Serious Crimes Investigation Office Chief Lim Eun-jeong speaks during a brief doorstep interview outside the office in Jungheung-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
Gwangju Regional Serious Crimes Investigation Office Chief Lim Eun-jeong speaks during a brief doorstep interview outside the office in Jungheung-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

Lim Eun-jeong, chief of the Gwangju Regional Serious Crimes Investigation Office, has been filed against on defamation charges after she claimed that Kim Ji-yong — the nominee to lead the Serious Crimes Investigation Office — had dismissed a misconduct complaint involving independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon's brother-in-law.

The civic group Sabehaeng, which advocates for judicial reform, held a press conference Thursday afternoon outside the Serious Crimes Investigation Office building in Jung-gu, Seoul, and announced it had filed a complaint against Lim on charges of defamation through the posting of false information under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

The group said Lim had "stated false facts" about Kim despite being obligated to uphold the constitutional principle of political neutrality for civil servants, calling her actions "a criminal act of challenging the president's appointment authority and trying to handpick her own superior."

Lim had posted on Facebook on Monday that Kim, during his tenure as head of the first inspection division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in 2018, "dismissed a complaint requesting an investigation into allegations that former prosecutor Jin covered up a sexual assault." She added that "someone who should serve as a cautionary tale must not become the No. 1 pick."

The former prosecutor Jin is Han's brother-in-law.

Kim's camp said additional investigation had been difficult at the time because a separate prosecutorial task force on sexual misconduct cases was already looking into the allegations.

Meanwhile, Sabehaeng, a civic group with pro-government leanings, has filed a series of complaints against prominent figures in the pro-opposition camp pushing for prosecutorial reform, including Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae and writer Yoo Si-min.

On Tuesday, the group also filed a complaint with the Serious Crimes Investigation Office against Lee Jong-geun, a former prosecutor general and husband of Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Park Eun-jeong, alleging he had conducted a lenient investigation into the so-called "Lime Asset Management wining-and-dining case" and charging him with abuse of authority, among other offenses.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com