Court Fines Han In-seop, Director of Criminal Policy Research Institute, 5 Million Won for 'Witness No-Show'... "Will Detain if Absent Again" Warning

On October 17 last year, Han In-seop, President of the Criminal Policy Research Institute, appeared at the National Assembly's National Audit of the Economic, Social and Humanities Research Council held by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The court presiding over the case of Professor Jeong Gyeong-sim of Dongyang University strongly criticized Han In-seop, the director of the Criminal Policy Research Institute, for not appearing as a witness on the 14th and imposed a fine on him.

The Criminal Division 25-2 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Lim Jeong-yeop, Kwon Seong-su, Kim Seon-hee) imposed a fine of 5 million won on Director Han, who was summoned as a witness at the continuation hearing of Professor Jeong but did not appear despite receiving the summons.

Article 151, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Act stipulates that a witness who has received a summons but fails to appear without justifiable reason may be fined up to 5 million won.

Additionally, Article 152 of the same law states that "a witness who does not respond to a summons without justifiable reason may be detained."

It is known that Director Han submitted a written statement of absence citing reasons such as a scheduled meeting with related agency heads the previous afternoon and his right to refuse testimony. The court stated that the summons was received by Director Han’s family in mid-last month.

In response, the court warned that if the absence was unjustified, a fine would be imposed, but it was reported that Director Han’s side again informed the court of their intention not to appear.

On this day, the court stated, "It is judged to be very improper for a witness currently serving as the director of the Criminal Policy Research Institute to refuse to appear in court," and warned, "A fine of 5 million won will be imposed, and if there is another absence in the future, not only will a fine be imposed, but a warrant for detention will also be issued."

Furthermore, the court expressed strong dissatisfaction, saying, "The attendance of witness Han In-seop is to guarantee cross-examination by the defense counsel," and "The trial should be conducted based on the principle of trial-centeredness, and the court cannot accept that a professor specializing in law would express such an opinion."

The date for Director Han’s witness examination was rescheduled to the afternoon of July 2.

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