Jeon Hyun-hee: "Whistleblower Identity Must Not Be Exposed... Criminal Penalties for Violating Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act"

Retroactive Application from the Time of Reporting to the Prosecutor's Office... Criminal Punishment if Whistleblower's Identity is Exposed

Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, warned against attempts to reveal the identity of whistleblower A, who is involved in the so-called 'accusation solicitation' allegations surrounding former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, stating, "There are very strict criminal penalties for violating the Whistleblower Protection Act."

On the morning of the 10th, Chairperson Jeon appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and said, "Article 12 of the Whistleblower Protection Act states, 'No one shall disclose or report to others the identity or any information that can infer the identity of a whistleblower, knowing that the person is a whistleblower,'" emphasizing this point.

Earlier, on the 8th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office recognized the whistleblowing related to the accusation solicitation allegations as a public interest report and decided to acknowledge whistleblower A as a protected whistleblower. However, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) clarified on the same day that since A had not applied for protective measures, the status as a protected whistleblower had not yet been confirmed, causing some confusion regarding A's whistleblower status.

In response to criticism that the whistleblower determination should precede the implementation of protective measures for A, Chairperson Jeon explained, "(The Supreme Prosecutors' Office's protective measures) refer to initiating confidentiality measures within internal investigation procedures," adding, "This is different from the protective measures under the Whistleblower Protection Act, which involve external protection."

Chairperson Jeon mentioned that the protective measures determined by the ACRC are a more comprehensive concept than the protection referred to by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, stating, "Measures such as confidentiality of the whistleblower's personal information and protection against disciplinary actions or dismissal are all exclusively handled by the ACRC."

Furthermore, Chairperson Jeon addressed attempts to uncover A's identity, saying, "Protection applies retroactively from the time of the report, so it has a retroactive effect," and warned, "Since the retroactive application is likely to be triggered from the time of reporting to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, caution is necessary."

Finally, Chairperson Jeon said, "Usually, whistleblowing and protection applications are submitted together to the ACRC. In cases like this, where the report is made to another agency first, the protection application is submitted to the ACRC afterward," adding, "A has not approached the ACRC. They must apply directly for both whistleblowing and protection."

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