'Abuse of Authority' Jeong Jin-woong in Court Today... Will Han Dong-hoon Be Questioned?

Chief Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon and Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong of Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office (right) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-ung of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office will appear in court as a defendant on the 20th. He is accused of assaulting Chief Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon during a search and seizure operation.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 (Presiding Judge Yang Cheol-han) will hold the first trial of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong, who has been indicted on charges of official assault, on the morning of the same day. Since the defendant is required to attend, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong is expected to appear in court. He was absent from the preparatory hearings held once each in November and December last year.

A fierce legal battle between both sides is expected during the trial. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong's defense denied the charges and claimed innocence at the previous preparatory hearings. The defense attorney stated, "Official assault is a provision to prevent torture and harsh treatment, but the defendant neither tortured nor subjected Han Dong-hoon to harsh treatment, nor did he have such intent." In response, the prosecution applied to call Chief Prosecutor Han, witnesses, and the doctor who diagnosed the injury as witnesses.

The court at the time indicated that it seemed appropriate to schedule the witness examination of Chief Prosecutor Han after the trial had progressed to some extent. However, it cannot be ruled out that the schedule for questioning Chief Prosecutor Han might be mentioned during this trial.

This case was triggered on July 29 last year during the seizure of Chief Prosecutor Han's mobile phone USIM card in connection with the 'media-prosecution collusion' suspicion. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong, who was serving as head of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office at the time, unusually visited the search site in person, which ultimately led to the incident. During the search, when Chief Prosecutor Han touched the mobile phone, Jeong grabbed his arm and shoulder and pushed him down under the sofa, causing injuries requiring three weeks of medical treatment.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office requested the Ministry of Justice to suspend Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong from duty due to this incident. After reviewing the request, the Ministry of Justice reconsidered the suspension. During this process, friction arose between the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Ministry of Justice. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong also absented himself from the trial of the attempted coercion case against former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae, in which he was directly involved in prosecution.

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