Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon questions Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young at a national audit of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee held at the Inter-Korean Dialogue Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Yonhap]
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon questions Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young at a national audit of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee held at the Inter-Korean Dialogue Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

The Democratic Party of Korea on Saturday renewed its calls for independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon to explain whether he interfered in a police investigation into allegations that his daughter had fabricated academic credentials. The allegations center on claims that prosecutors blocked a police request for judicial cooperation with the United States in 2022, when Han was serving as justice minister. Three Democratic Party spokespersons issued written briefings on the matter throughout the day.

Chief Spokesperson Park Sung-joon said that in November 2022, police sought judicial cooperation with the United States as part of their investigation into the allegations against Han's daughter, but that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office halted the request within 11 days without forwarding it to the Ministry of Justice. "The justice minister at the time was the father of that daughter — none other than Han Dong-hoon," Park added.

Park called the episode "a textbook case of double standards," saying the entire nation wants to know why the same prosecutors who aggressively investigated other people's children stopped in their tracks when it came to Han's daughter. "Did prosecutors act on their own initiative, or did Minister Han apply pressure?" he said.

Park urged Han, former Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief Song Kyung-ho and prosecutor Kong Bong-suk to "explain to the public in full detail why the investigation into Han's daughter was stopped." He also called on the Korean National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters to disclose the full circumstances of the case.

Floor Spokesperson Lee Joo-hee dismissed Han's claim of no wrongdoing as "self-cleared." Lee said prosecutors had blocked the path forward and police had ultimately declined to refer the case to prosecutors citing insufficient evidence. "We cannot shake the suspicion that the finding of no wrongdoing Han touts was not the conclusion of an investigation but the result of an investigation being blocked," she said.

Lee also raised a conflict-of-interest concern, noting that international judicial cooperation requests must pass through the justice minister. "Had the police request been forwarded to the Ministry of Justice, the official with approval authority would have been the father of the very person under suspicion," she said. The Democratic Party noted that the Act on the Prevention of Conflicts of Interest of Public Officials — which requires officials to recuse themselves from matters involving family members — took effect on May 19, 2022, two days after Han was sworn in as minister.

Lee pressed Han to state whether he had filed a conflict-of-interest declaration and requested recusal, saying he must release the records if he did and that he would be in violation of the law if he did not. She also called on the Ministry of Justice to clarify who decided to return the police request without forwarding it, and whether the minister had been informed.

Spokesperson Jo Gye-won joined in, saying Han had stayed silent on the issue despite the revelation at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's national audit that prosecutors had blocked the investigation into his daughter's credentials. "It is only common sense for Han, who was justice minister at the time, to explain the extent of his involvement in the investigation into the allegations surrounding his daughter's credentials," Jo said. Jo also noted that while Han had posted nearly 30 times on Facebook over the past two days, he had not written a single line in response to the matter.

The allegations first surfaced Thursday at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee national audit of the Ministry of Justice. According to materials obtained by Democratic Party lawmaker Park Gyun-taek from the Korean National Police Agency and other sources, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit submitted a request to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in November 2022 for judicial cooperation with the United States. The prosecutors' office notified police within 11 days that it had decided not to forward the request to the Ministry of Justice.

Prosecutors cited the complexity and length of the process and said it was unlikely the United States would respond. Police ultimately declined to refer the case to prosecutors in December of the following year, citing a lack of evidence of wrongdoing, among other reasons.

When the allegations were first raised Thursday, Han pushed back, saying the ruling party forces were "charging in like gangsters, trying to dig up anything they can find." The Ministry of Justice said it would review the facts through the Public Prosecution Service before deciding on any response.


shee@heraldcorp.com