"Suspicion on Choo Mi-ae's Son, Petition Calls for Han Dong-hoon to Lead Investigation"

Choo Mi-ae "Will Not Receive Reports Related to Son's Allegations"
Choo Mi-ae's Son's Side "KATUSA Regulations Differ from Army... No Problem"

On the morning of the 7th, Choo Mi-ae, Minister of Justice, attended the plenary session held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, and sat in the cabinet members' seats. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Amid ongoing disputes between ruling and opposition parties over allegations of 'preferential leave' during the military service of Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's son, Seo Mo (27), a petition has been posted requesting the appointment of Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon (47, Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 27), who is currently investigating Seo, as head of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office.

On the 8th, a post titled "Please appoint Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon as head of the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office for a fair investigation of Minister Choo Mi-ae" was uploaded on the Blue House National Petition Board. As of around 2 p.m. that day, the petition had garnered over 1,300 endorsements. Having met the preliminary requirement of over 100 endorsements, it is currently under administrative review.

The petitioner stated, "Suspicions surrounding Minister Choo and her son are spreading rapidly. The Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, which has been handling the case for eight months, has shown no proper progress in the investigation and is suspected of omitting important witness statements from the records. This has led to a situation where it is hard to trust whether the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office should continue to handle the investigation."

He continued, "Regarding the public distrust, the opposition party is advocating for an investigation by a special prosecutor or special investigation team, while the ruling party seems to oppose this. Minister Choo, seemingly aware of criticisms questioning whether the prosecution, effectively supervised by the Minister of Justice, can properly investigate the Minister herself, has publicly declared that she will not receive any reports related to this case."

"However, as previously noted, entrusting the current head of the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, who has dragged out the investigation into the Minister of Justice for eight months, with continuing the investigation is unlikely to gain public trust, even if they conduct a fair and thorough investigation going forward," he added.

The petitioner requested, "I petition that Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon, who has no conflicts of interest with Minister Choo and was rather in opposition due to the Minister's investigation orders related to the collusion between prosecutors and media, be appointed as head of the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office to lead the investigation concerning Minister Choo."

He argued, "This would allow us to move beyond the exhausting debates between ruling and opposition parties regarding the introduction of a special prosecutor or special investigation system. For Minister Choo, it would be a great opportunity to clearly demonstrate her innocence. The majority of the public would also accept the investigation results without doubt."

He further emphasized, "Please provide institutional and procedural support to ensure a fair investigation that the public can accept. If such support is difficult, at least appoint a head of the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office who has no conflicts of interest with Minister Choo," urging again.

Finally, he added, "I sincerely hope that the Moon Jae-in administration will uphold the values of equal opportunity, procedural fairness, and justice in outcomes."

On the 8th, a post titled "Please appoint Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon as the head of the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office for a fair investigation by Minister Chu Mi-ae" was uploaded on the Blue House National Petition Board. Photo by Blue House National Petition Board capture

Earlier, on the 7th, Minister Choo stated that she had not received any reports regarding the prosecution's investigation into her son's preferential leave allegations and would not receive any in the future.

The Ministry of Justice explained in a text message sent to the press corps that "the Minister has repeatedly expressed through responses to the National Assembly that the prosecution should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the controversial case to ascertain the facts. The Minister has not received any reports related to the case so far and will not receive any in the future."

On the 25th of last month, during a session of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Minister Choo responded to a question from Jo Soo-jin, a member of the People Power Party, who pointed out delays in the investigation, by saying, "I have not received reports on the investigation, so I do not know. If you are curious, visit the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office to urge and inquire."

Meanwhile, Seo's side issued a statement on the 8th refuting related allegations.

Seo's attorney, Hyun Geun-taek, stated in the statement, "The KATUSA unit where Seo served is governed primarily by the 'United States Army regulations in Korea,' not the Army regulations, so there is no issue with sick leave and vacation. Some media outlets have reported that according to Army regulations, after the first sick leave ends, one must return to the unit and obtain approval again, but the primarily applied regulations do not contain such provisions, and it is unclear where such rules exist in the Army regulations."

The attorney explained, "The first sick leave was based on a medical certificate from Samsung Seoul Hospital and the treatment results from the Armed Forces Yangju Hospital, so there is no problem. The second sick leave was verbally approved before the first sick leave ended, and the documents were submitted later via email on June 21, 2017. Reports by some media claiming issues with the second sick leave based on the Samsung Seoul Hospital medical certificate dated June 21, 2017, which was submitted later, are incorrect."

He added, "Reports stating that 'additional sick leave requires a medical review according to Army regulations' also seem to be a misinterpretation of the law. The petition leave under the United States Army regulations in Korea is not subject to medical review. The third leave corresponds to regular leave under these regulations, which the individual can take at their discretion, so there is no problem. The date June 25, 2017, when a duty soldier was reported to have been on duty, was after the third leave had already been taken, so approval was not an issue," he said.

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