Watchdog Probe Opens into Abuse of Authority Over Non-Referral of Probe into Han Dong-hoon's Daughter

Park Geun-taek of the Democratic Party of Korea argued on the 9th that an investigation into abuse of authority is needed after it emerged that a request for international judicial cooperation, filed by police regarding the investigation into false credentials allegations involving Han Dong-hoon's daughter during his time as justice minister, was dismissed without referral by the prosecution when Han was an independent lawmaker.

Police submitted a request for mutual legal assistance with the United States to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in November 2022, but prosecutors reportedly dismissed it without forwarding it to the Ministry of Justice. At a National Assembly audit of the ministry on the 8th, Rep. Park pointed out to Acting Justice Minister Lee Jin-soo (vice minister), "The request was supposed to go to the Ministry of Justice, but no such assistance request was ever received," calling it "unprecedented and inexcusable." The Hankyoreh's reporting also confirmed the non-referral.

Park said, "It must have been reported in advance, and it seems more likely that the prosecution acted on Han Dong-hoon's orders — but this is something that must be brought to light through verifying the facts or through an investigation."

In response, Gong Bong-sook, a prosecutor at the Seoul Metropolitan Prosecutors' Office, pushed back in a Facebook post, claiming, "The criminal justice assistance request in question would have been rejected 100 percent."