Han Dong-hoon Blasts Park Seon-won for Disclosing Whistleblower's Identity, Citing Violation of Law
Park Seon-won, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, on Friday disclosed the personal information of the public interest whistleblower (a person who reports wrongdoing for the public good) who raised suspicions that Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won engaged in improper solicitation to win approval of a new drug clinical trial (a trial conducted on human subjects to verify a drug's efficacy and safety). In response, independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon pushed back, calling it “a clear violation of the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act (a law that protects those who report wrongdoing in the public interest from suffering disadvantages).”
At a meeting of the party's Supreme Council held in North Chungcheong Province on Friday morning, Supreme Council member Park identified the whistleblower as one “Mr. Cho.” According to Park, Cho was a co-CEO of the company that signed a management consulting (business advisory) contract with CEO Yang, a broker (an intermediary who arranges deals), in 2021, and ran a subsidiary (a company majority-owned by its parent) of an unnamed university. Park claimed that Cho demanded a personal relationship with Yang, flaunted his ties to the camp of Rep. Kweon Seong-dong to tout his closeness to the People Power Party, and said he would take Yang to Gangneung and help him secure an appointment. Park also claimed that Cho, seeking to recoup business losses, dangled an exposé of alleged lobbying at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety over Yang and Kang, the founder of Genexcell, and tried to extract money under the guise of investment, only to fail. “I have doubts as to whether Mr. Cho, after failing to achieve his goal, had prior ties with the People Power Party and filed his report with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on that basis,” he said.
Meeting reporters at the National Assembly on Friday, Rep. Han Dong-hoon said, “Supreme Council member Park has landed himself in serious trouble.” “Exposing the identity of a public interest whistleblower like that — Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok and everyone else present at the meeting are all accomplices,” he said, stressing, “The Democratic Party forces that drag this country through the mud by ‘outing’ public interest whistleblowers through trickery must be rooted out.”
Criticism from lawmakers aligned with Han Dong-hoon followed. Rep. Park Jeong-hoon of the People Power Party wrote on Facebook: “The Democratic Party tramples anyone who poses a threat to their own government, even if that person is doing public-interest work” — arguing that the party is consumed with holding onto power and shows no interest in protecting the vulnerable. Rep. Park Jeong-ha criticized Supreme Council member Park Seon-won for effectively identifying the whistleblower and openly defaming him, adding in rebuttal, “Has the Democratic Party lost its senses now that President Lee Jae-myung's approval ratings have plunged?” Rep. Jung Sung-guk pointed out: “Do they protect public interest whistleblowers when it suits them, only to expose and attack a whistleblower's identity the moment a report unfavorable to them comes out?”
Reps. Han Dong-hoon and Park Jeong-hoon said in a notice issued Friday that they plan to file a criminal complaint against Supreme Council member Park on charges of violating the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act and the Act on the Protection, etc. of Reporters of Specific Crimes. Rep. Han had earlier pointed out that “acts that enable the identity of a public interest whistleblower to be known can result in a prison sentence.”
