Handonghun: "The 'Complete Prosecution Reform Act' Has a High Risk of Being 'Unconstitutional'"

Candidate Han: "Rather than separating investigation and prosecution, a significant part of prosecution rights was given to the police"
Ruling party: "The Cho Kuk case is problematic due to excessive investigation... Daughter's credential building is a family version of Sky Castle"

Minister of Justice nominee Han Dong-hoon is attending the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 9th, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Han Dong-hoon, nominee for Minister of Justice, described the so-called ‘Prosecutorial Authority Complete Abolition Act’ as "a law created for corrupt public officials to avoid punishment."

At the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 9th, in response to Rep. Jo Su-jin of the People Power Party’s question, "The Prosecutorial Authority Complete Abolition Act is practically equivalent to the abolition of the prosecution. What do you think about this?" Han said, "(The Act) is a law that does not consider the damage it causes to ordinary citizens or the public," adding, "I deeply regret that a flawed law was enacted through a flawed procedure."

Rep. Jo claimed that the Democratic Party engaged in a ‘disguised party withdrawal’ to pass the Act, asking, "Have you ever heard the criticism that the withdrawal and subsequent rejoining of the party for the purpose of passing the bill constitutes a collusive false indication under civil law?" Han responded, "It is a flawed law that harms the people and was enacted through a flawed procedure," and added, "I believe there is a high possibility that it is unconstitutional."

He further stated, "The investigative authority of the prosecution stipulated in the Constitution does not belong to the prosecution itself but to the people who benefit from crime prevention," and said, "It is not a matter to be arbitrarily taken away by legislation."

Han also described the Act as "not so much a separation of investigation and prosecution but rather a result of granting a significant portion of prosecutorial authority to the police." He explained, "I don’t think ‘separation of investigation and prosecution’ is an accurate term. The recent bill essentially grants prosecutorial authority to the police. Prosecutorial authority means deciding whether to prosecute or not, and giving the police 99% of the authority to close cases means they can prosecute only what the police send, effectively granting them significant prosecutorial discretion."

The Democratic Party criticized Han, who served as head of the Anti-Corruption and Serious Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, for the investigation of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, labeling it as ‘excessive investigation’ and targeting Han as the person responsible for the investigation at the time.

In response to Rep. Min Hyung-bae of the Democratic Party’s remark, "The Cho Kuk investigation was conducted excessively and harshly, as everyone knows," Han said, "I did my best," adding, "The parties involved spread conspiracy theories and attacked the investigation team, mobilizing public opinion against us."

When Rep. Min countered, "It is well known that the nominee manipulated public opinion and even disclosed headlines to reporters one by one," Han retorted, "I understand that you apologized for the Cho Kuk case and have moved on from it. Then, I would like to ask whether we should not have conducted the Cho Kuk investigation."

As the Democratic Party focused their questioning on the investigation of former Minister Cho, the People Power Party came to Han’s defense. Rep. Park Hyung-soo of the People Power Party asked, "You say the Cho Kuk investigation was excessive. How many search and seizure operations were conducted at that time?" Han replied, "The figure of 70 search and seizures refers to the number of locations. Counting each room separately, it amounts to that number," adding, "The actual investigation period was three months, so 70 search and seizures are impossible. It means multiple places were searched individually."

The Democratic Party also launched an offensive regarding allegations of ‘spec-building’ involving Han’s daughter. Rep. Kim Young-bae of the Democratic Party pointed out, "There are allegations concerning the children, calling it the Han Dong-hoon family’s version of Sky Castle," and added, "There are suspicions of ghostwriting papers and claims of 20,000 hours of volunteer work, but no documentation has been submitted."

Han responded, "I did not know what kind of education my daughter received over the years," explaining, "Regarding the paper, it was only two to three pages, written in English, but it was a low-level report. It was not at a level to be submitted to a foreign university, nor was it ever submitted as a school assignment."

He continued, "From my daughter’s perspective, it was explained as an archive of her learning process during the international school curriculum, and the volunteer work was not for building a resume for university admission but something she continues to do even now."

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