Civic Group Files Complaint Against Minister Park Neung-hoo Again... "Responsibility for Not Blocking Chinese Entry"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare, has been accused by a civic group for not imposing a ban on the entry of Chinese nationals amid the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) outbreak.

The Action Alliance for Restoring the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the morning of the 4th, accusing Minister Park of murder by implied intent. They claim that because Minister Park did not implement an entry ban on Chinese nationals, resulting in numerous deaths from COVID-19, this constitutes murder by implied intent.

Beopse-ryeon stated, "Considering the reality that Chinese nationals suspected of COVID-19 infection are spread throughout China, there was a duty to act for Minister Park to impose a full entry ban on Chinese nationals," adding, "The causal relationship and intent between the failure to impose the entry ban and the deaths are recognized, fulfilling the elements of murder by implied intent, and it is illegal, so we have filed a complaint against Minister Park."

Minister Park sparked controversy on the 26th of last month during a plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee by stating that "the biggest cause is Koreans who came from China" in relation to the spread of COVID-19.

On the previous day, Park Deok-heum, a member of the Future United Party, also filed a complaint against Minister Park at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the same charge. Earlier, on the 28th of last month, civic groups Freedom Rule of Law Center, Free Korea Patriotic Corps, and Turn Right filed a complaint accusing Minister Park of obstructing official duties by deception, alleging that he lied in the National Assembly. On the same day, the civic group Committee for the Protection of the Common People and Livelihood also filed a complaint against Minister Park for dereliction of duty and defamation. This case has been assigned to the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which is responsible for human rights and reputation protection, led by Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong.

Meanwhile, the prosecution also assigned to Criminal Division 1 a complaint filed by the same group against Kang Kyung-hwa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Park Yang-woo, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, on charges of dereliction of duty. The group submitted the complaint to the prosecution, citing that Minister Kang failed to properly respond amid the situation where overseas entries of Korean nationals are being increasingly blocked due to the COVID-19 spread. Minister Park Yang-woo was accused for negligence in accurately informing the public about the government's response to COVID-19 in a video posted on the 'Korea Policy Briefing' site managed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

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