Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's policy research institute, and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon clashed Friday over allegations that Han's daughter fabricated her academic credentials.
Cho called for a special prosecutor investigation into allegations that Han's daughter received preferential treatment over volunteer hours, while Han accused Cho of spreading malicious falsehoods and vowed legal action.
Cho wrote on Facebook that Han's innocence and his daughter's supposed brilliance should be verified through a special prosecutor act targeting Han.
He said Han's daughter had received a commendation for 20,000 hours of volunteer work, adding that 20,000 hours would require working eight hours a day, five days a week for 10 years. "That's not something a genius could pull off — you'd need superpowers," Cho said.
Cho added that Han's camp had claimed the hours belonged to the volunteer organization, not to his daughter personally. "That's still a problem," he said. "The actual work was done by the organization, but Han's daughter was the one who benefited."
Cho also said Han's daughter had received awards from the Seoul mayor and the Incheon City Council speaker for donating 50 laptops, but that investigators had never confirmed whether those awards were recorded in her school transcript or whether such a transcript was submitted during the college admissions process. "All of this happened when Han was known as the crown prince of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration," Cho said. "Both prosecutors and police kowtowed to Han."
Han pushed back on Facebook, saying Cho was spreading "obvious falsehoods" — including the claim that his daughter had personally logged an implausible 20,000 hours of volunteer work. Han said he would pursue both civil and criminal action against Cho for "maliciously spreading false information."
Han said the original online text made clear that the hours referred to the cumulative volunteer work of the organization his daughter belonged to, not her individual contribution. He added that even a Democratic Party lawmaker had acknowledged the line of questioning was mistaken during his confirmation hearing for justice minister.
He added that he would take firm action against anyone spreading false information, "regardless of their position."
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