Daegum Maintains No Charges in 'Han Myeong-sook Perjury Conspiracy' Case... Reported to Ministry of Justice

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Supreme Prosecutors' Office reported to the Ministry of Justice that it will not prosecute the case related to former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook's alleged false testimony obstruction, following the results of the chief prosecutors' meeting.

On the 21st, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "Regarding the case of former Prime Minister Han related to the alleged false testimony obstruction, after the chief prosecutors' meeting, it was decided yesterday to maintain the disposition made on the 5th, and this was reported to the Ministry of Justice."

The chief prosecutors' meeting of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which started at 10:05 a.m. on the 19th, ended at 11:32 p.m. The meeting time, excluding meal breaks, lasted over 11 hours. The high-ranking prosecutors who reviewed the records in the morning began full discussions from the afternoon.

Under the investigative command of Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye, Heo Jeong-su, Head of Inspection Division 3, who dismissed the case as no charges as the lead prosecutor, and Im Eun-jeong, Research Officer of the Inspection Policy Bureau of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, who led the case handling before the lead prosecutor was assigned, each presented their positions, followed by a Q&A session with the attendees.

The vote following the discussion was attended by Acting Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan, as well as six frontline high prosecutors: Cho Sang-chul, Head of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office; Oh In-seo, Head of Suwon High Prosecutors' Office; Kang Nam-il, Head of Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office; Jang Young-soo, Head of Daegu High Prosecutors' Office; Park Sung-jin, Head of Busan High Prosecutors' Office; and Koo Bon-seon, Head of Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office. Also participating were seven Supreme Prosecutors' Office chiefs: Cho Jong-tae, Director of Planning and Coordination; Shin Sung-sik, Head of Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division; Lee Jung-hyun, Head of Public Investigation Division; Lee Jong-geun, Head of Criminal Division; Go Kyung-soon, Head of Trial and Litigation Division; Lee Cheol-hee, Head of Scientific Investigation Division; and Han Dong-soo, Head of Inspection Division, totaling 14 members.

Among them, 10 voted for non-prosecution, 2 voted for prosecution, and the remaining 2 abstained. Accordingly, the case concerning former Prime Minister Han involving allegations of false testimony obstruction and instigation was finally closed. The statute of limitations for this case expires at midnight on the 22nd.

The false testimony obstruction allegation arose when the investigation team received a petition in April last year claiming that during the 2011 trial of former Prime Minister Han, prisoners were coerced to give false testimony that "the late Han Man-ho, former CEO of Hanshin Construction, said he gave money to former Prime Minister Han."

Meanwhile, Research Officer Im expressed brief reflections on the non-prosecution conclusion of the chief prosecutors' meeting. Through SNS, Im quoted a line from poet Lee Sanha's poem "He Walks with Crutches to the Stars," writing, "I will keep going while looking at the Milky Way in the distant sky."

He said, "Thanks to many people who prayed and worried, I was able to stand firm in the meeting room that felt like a wilderness with fierce sandstorms," adding, "I feel very sorry and heavy-hearted for a few prisoners who courageously opened their hearts despite my lack of ability." He continued, "Tomorrow, the sun will rise again, so I will prepare for tomorrow cheerfully, grateful that the unanimous decision was not reached as in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office research officers' meeting."

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