청, Official Letter from Chief Secretary Noh Young-min on 'Jo Guk Human Rights Violation'... "Judgment Lies with the Human Rights Commission"

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] On the 13th, the Blue House announced that it sent an official letter to the National Human Rights Commission under the name of Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min regarding the petition for the 'Investigation into Human Rights Violations of the Cho Kuk Family.' However, the Blue House emphasized that "the judgment will be made by the Human Rights Commission" and that the letter is not of a nature to compel an investigation.

Kang Jung-soo, head of the Blue House Digital Communication Center, stated in a response to the related national petition on the morning of the same day, "The Blue House sent an official letter to the National Human Rights Commission under the name of the Presidential Chief of Staff, containing the petition details from the petitioner and the citizens who joined," adding, "The National Human Rights Commission conveyed that 'if the contents received through the Blue House national petition are judged to be matters concerning human rights violations, they may initiate an investigation.'

Furthermore, he added, "The Human Rights Commission stated that 'according to the Human Rights Commission Act, if an anonymous complaint is received, the complaint case must be dismissed, so an investigation can only be conducted if the complaint is submitted with a real name.'" This is interpreted as an explanation that if the petitioner does not disclose their real name, sending an official letter under the name of Chief of Staff Noh, who is the overall person responsible for the Presidential Secretariat's work, is a customary procedure.

The petition raised on October 15 contains claims that during the prosecution's investigation into allegations surrounding former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk and his family, "there were indiscriminate human rights violations by the prosecution against the family and those around them," and calls for "the National Human Rights Commission to thoroughly investigate so that such incidents never happen again." Approximately 226,000 people participated in the petition over the course of a month.

Center head Kang explained the procedure, saying, "The National Human Rights Commission's complaint process proceeds in the order of receipt, case investigation, committee resolution, and notification to the parties involved," and added, "First, consultations and cases regarding human rights violations such as complaints must be received by the National Human Rights Commission." He also added, "Even without a complaint application, if there is considerable evidence to believe that a human rights violation has occurred and the content is recognized as serious, an investigation can be conducted ex officio."

Since the Blue House sent the official letter under Chief of Staff Noh's name, the decision on whether to initiate an investigation into the case has been passed to the Human Rights Commission. Seemingly aware of criticism that sending the letter could be perceived as pressure to start an investigation, the Blue House emphasized, "The Human Rights Commission is an independent organization not affiliated with the legislative, judicial, or executive branches."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.