Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon. [Yonhap]
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon. [Yonhap]

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon has warned he will pursue civil and criminal legal action against Democratic Party lawmaker Park Gyun-taek after Park raised allegations that Han and his wife covered up a school violence incident involving their son.

In a Facebook post Thursday, Han criticized Park for reviving the claims under the protection of parliamentary immunity. "After swarming at me like a pack of dogs over my daughter and failing, Park has now gone back to spreading false smears that my underage son was a school violence perpetrator — hiding behind parliamentary privilege," Han wrote.

Han added that the allegations were entirely false, pointing to two earlier cases as evidence. He said Hwang Un-ha, a lawmaker of the Rebuilding Korea Party, had attempted to make a false disclosure on the matter during early voting for the last general election but backed down and retreated. He also said Jeon Yeo-ok, a YouTuber, had spread similar claims online, was subsequently investigated by police for disseminating false information, and was referred to prosecutors with a recommendation for indictment after the claims were found to be false. Han said a civil damages lawsuit against her was also ongoing.

Han went on to say that Park was "attacking in a cowardly way from behind parliamentary immunity" and that the behavior was "low and pathetic." "Are you that afraid of me?" he wrote. "I will take strong civil and criminal legal action against everyone involved in spreading these vile falsehoods about a minor — including those who simply shared them."

Han later posted again, saying Park had appeared Friday with an unidentified text message and claimed it was written by Han's underage son, using it to make a personal attack against the boy. Han said the person who had circulated the screenshot — sourced, according to Park, from online communities — was a minor with a mental illness who had previously attacked People Power Party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin and inflicted serious injuries. "Is this how the Democratic Party and Rep. Park want to do politics — this dirty?" Han wrote.

He reiterated that he would pursue civil and criminal legal action without exception against anyone spreading false information about a minor, including those who merely shared the content.

Earlier Friday, Park had renewed the allegations during a national audit session of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, claiming that Han and his wife had suppressed a school violence case involving their son.

During the committee's audit of the Prosecution Service, Park alleged that the school violence case involving Han's son had been dismissed. "Han Dong-hoon's spouse was a member of the school management committee responsible for handling school violence, and it appears she used that position to block the case against their son," Park claimed.

Park added that the son had also sent messages boasting that his father would become the next president and that he could summon chaebol and make them kneel. "There is a real problem with the family culture here," Park said.

Park called on authorities to look into why the case had been handled the way it was, and asked that relevant materials be made available should the matter later become subject to investigation by police or a future serious crimes agency.

Han and his wife had previously been reported to prosecutors on charges of abuse of authority and violations of the School Violence Prevention Act in connection with the allegations involving their son. Prosecutors dismissed the case last May.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com