Cho Kuk and Han Dong-hoon clash over allegations of a lawmaker's daughter's fabricated volunteer hours… Cho calls for special prosecutor, Han threatens legal action
Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's Innovation Policy Research Institute, and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon traded barbs on the 16th over suspicions that a lawmaker's daughter's volunteer hours were fabricated to pad her credentials. On Facebook that day, Cho pointed out that Han's daughter received a commendation for 20,000 hours of volunteer work, saying it amounts to "eight hours a day, five days a week, for ten years" — "a feat possible not for a 'genius' but only for someone with 'superhuman powers.'" He argued that a 'Han Dong-hoon Special Prosecutor Act' should be enacted to verify this 'genius.'
Cho also raised questions about how Han's daughter won the Seoul Mayor's Award and the Incheon City Council Chairman's Award for donating some 50 laptops. "Investigators never checked whether these awards were recorded in her school record, or whether that record was submitted when she applied to schools," he noted. "All of this happened when Han Dong-hoon was being called the 'crown prince of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration,'" he claimed.
Han countered on Facebook. "Former lawmaker Cho is spreading clearly false claims, such as that 'a lawmaker's child performed an unrealistic 20,000 hours of volunteer work,'" he said. He added, "I will take strict civil and criminal measures against former lawmaker Cho for maliciously spreading false information."
Han also clarified the original subject of the volunteer hours. "The text originally posted online clearly referred to the hours accumulated by the organization he belonged to," he explained, adding that "even Democratic Party lawmakers acknowledged during the Justice Minister confirmation hearing that the questioning had been mistaken." He went on, "Beyond former lawmaker Cho, I will take stern action against anyone, regardless of position, who spreads false information."
With Han formally vowing civil and criminal action, the feud appears likely to escalate beyond an immediate war of words into a courtroom battle.
