Complainant in Han Dong-hoon's Daughter Investigation Controversy Questioned for Fourth Day
Police will question complainants in the alleged cover-up (hushing up) of the investigation into the daughter of independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon at 1 p.m. on the 30th at the Metropolitan Crimes Investigation Unit of the Metropolitan Investigation Unit under the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Those questioned today are officials of civic groups including Ahn Jin-geol, head of the People's Livelihood Economy Research Institute, and lawyer Lee Je-il, the second questioning following the first on the 27th. Ahn and other civic group representatives submitted an opinion paper to police this morning.
They countered Han's explanation that 'the 20,000 hours are the total activity hours of the volunteer organization, not his daughter's personal hours' regarding allegations that Han inflated his daughter's volunteer service record, arguing it must be determined whether the organization's total record was presented as personal, and that her actual hours of volunteer work must be verified. They also claimed that during the past investigation, police relied solely on written responses from Han's spouse and decided not to forward the case (not to send it to prosecutors as a non-indictment disposition) without verifying the volunteer service record. They also called for compulsory investigations such as face-to-face questioning and search-and-seizure of Han and his spouse.
The civic groups have raised allegations that in November 2022, when Han was justice minister, police requested international criminal judicial cooperation from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to secure overseas evidence related to allegations of copyright law violations by Han's daughter, but prosecutors blocked it. They called the prosecution's failure to deliver this request to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Ministry of Justice 'substantive obstruction of investigation' and demanded an investigation into the circumstances of contacts and approvals between the prosecution and the justice ministry at the time.
The Anti-Corruption and Public Crimes Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency received and investigated a complaint about fabricated credentials allegations related to Han's daughter in May 2022 and decided not to forward the case in December 2023. It was found that a search-and-seizure warrant was never requested during the investigation.
While the civic groups pointed out that the statute of limitations for some charges, such as the fabricated volunteer service record allegations, may expire next month, police plan to review whether to summon Han and other accused after completing today's questioning of complainants.
