[Exclusive] Choo Mi-ae's 'Han Dong-hoon Prevention Act'... Ministry of Justice Completes Study on 'Forced Mobile Phone Unlock'

Punishment for Failure to Unlock Digital Devices as Obstruction of Justice... "If Legislated, It Would Undermine the Constitution"

Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon (left) and former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae, who previously had a conflict over unlocking a cellphone password /

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that it conducted a confidential research project on the so-called 'Han Dong-hoon Prevention Act,' a 'mobile phone password unlocking law' promoted by former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, and completed it in just 100 days. In 2020, former Minister Choo pointed to Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, who did not cooperate in unlocking his mobile phone, as the reason why the investigation into the alleged collusion between the prosecution and the media stopped after the case of abuse of authority, and instructed the Ministry of Justice to enact related laws.

According to the legal community on the 13th, the Ministry of Justice began a research project in early September last year focusing on penalizing failure to comply with password unlocking of digital devices as obstruction of justice, and completed all related procedures including the final report early last month.

The core of this research is to enforce by law that suspects must cooperate in unlocking their mobile phone passwords. Since the introduction of the obstruction of justice offense is under consideration, the Ministry of Justice plans to organize the controversies based on legal grounds for future use.

A law professor from a university in Gyeongnam, who has conducted several studies related to mobile phone password unlocking and the right to remain silent, participated in the research. Through previous research materials, the professor has expressed the view that "it is necessary to carefully consider whether to introduce the rule of law, a foreseeable conclusion of U.S. courts, which allows investigative agencies to demand unlocking and submission of a suspect's smartphone if they can prove what information is contained therein, into South Korea."

The Ministry of Justice stated, "This research is being conducted within the broad framework of obstruction of justice as part of legal and prosecutorial administrative support," and is cautious about expanding the interpretation to the 'Han Dong-hoon Prevention Act.' However, the legal community views this as the matter that former Minister Choo instructed the Ministry of Justice to review for legislation in November 2020. The cause was an incident in July of the same year when Jeong Jin-woong, a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute and then head of the Criminal Division 1 at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, had a physical altercation over Prosecutor Han's smartphone. At that time, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl requested the Ministry of Justice to suspend Jeong's duties, but former Minister Choo blocked it citing procedural defects.

Eventually, former Minister Choo publicly stated, "In cases like that of Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute and a suspect in the Channel A case, where the suspect maliciously hides the mobile phone password and obstructs the investigation, I instructed to review legislation that enforces compliance under certain conditions such as court orders, referencing foreign legislations like those in the UK, and imposes sanctions for non-compliance."

A Ministry of Justice official said, "There is no decision yet on how to utilize the research results (such as future legislative promotion)," but inside and outside the prosecution, there are concerns that the related research continued even after former Minister Choo stepped down and was completed in a short period, ultimately to be used in the legislative process. Moreover, the research results reported to the Ministry of Justice are likely to have the same intent as the professor's previous studies.

The controversy remains. Critics argue that it disregards the constitutional rights of suspects not to be forced into unfavorable testimony. The logic is that it is no different from a law that forces confessions and penalizes those who do not confess. Prosecutor Han himself previously said, "The defendant's right to defense is a constitutional right, and I find it absurd that the Minister of Justice, who should be the bastion of the constitution and human rights protection, publicly criticizes the exercise of constitutional rights by the party as malicious and talks about legislation to block it," calling it an "anti-constitutional idea."

The Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, and the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) have joined forces to call for a halt to the bill discussions. They criticized it as a "human rights terroristic idea" and said it "directly contradicts the ideals of the constitution and the Criminal Procedure Act, including the right to remain silent."

Even within the ruling party, there are expected to be continued criticisms that this does not align with the government's prosecution reform stance. During the investigation into former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's family corruption allegations, the prosecution abolished public summons and late-night interrogations ahead of Professor Jeong Kyung-shim's summons, and during the Blue House's alleged political investigation case, the Ministry of Justice set a policy to keep indictments confidential.

A lawyer with a prosecution background commented, "If a bill aimed at forcibly unlocking mobile phones is discussed, it will ultimately undermine the suspect's right to self-defense guaranteed by the constitution," adding, "This is far from the recent trend in courts and the National Assembly to support the substantial defense rights of defendants and suspects."

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