'Son Junsung and Group Chat' Han Donghoon: "What's the problem with a chat room among investigation line?"

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 Kim Daehyun] Han Dong-hoon, the nominee for Minister of Justice, rebutted the Democratic Party of Korea's allegation that he had created a group chat in the past with Son Junsung, former Policy Officer of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Investigation Information Policy Division, who was implicated in the so-called 'accusation solicitation' scandal, saying, "What is wrong with the investigation line creating a chat room among themselves at that time?"

At the parliamentary confirmation hearing on the 9th, Lee Sujin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out that "in 2019, while serving as head of the Anti-Corruption and Violence Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, a group chat was created with Policy Officer Son and spokesperson Kwon Soonjung to manage the investigation of former Minister Cho," and Han responded, "Since we were close, it was possible to operate it, and we usually create and disband such chats."

Regarding the allegation that in 2020, when Han was serving as Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Busan High Prosecutors' Office, he exchanged 2,330 KakaoTalk messages with President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, who was then Prosecutor General, and about 330 messages with Yoon's spouse Kim Geonhee, Han said, "At that time, I was performing irreplaceable duties at the Busan High Prosecutors' Office, and daily reports were necessary concerning former Minister Cho Kuk and the state power abuse case. If reports were not possible, I contacted the Prosecutor General's spouse."

The so-called 'accusation solicitation' allegation claims that while Yoon was Prosecutor General, the prosecution solicited the opposition party to file accusations targeting ruling party figures. Former Policy Officer Son was accused of instructing subordinate prosecutors to draft accusation documents and collect supporting evidence, conspiring to solicit accusations. The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Department recently indicted only former Policy Officer Son without detention, while President-elect Yoon was cleared of charges.

Questions were also raised about the so-called 'Channel A incident' and allegations of collusion between the prosecution and media. When Lee pointed out that "the failure to clarify the prosecution-media collusion case was due to refusal to undergo mobile phone forensic analysis," Han responded, "It is unreasonable to still demand the submission of my mobile phone."

Han emphasized, "This is a matter that has been cleared of charges. Those who fabricated this to falsely accuse me must take responsibility." This allegation involves former Channel A reporter Lee Dongjae approaching former Value Invest Korea CEO Lee Cheol by leveraging his acquaintance with Han to coerce him into providing information about the involvement of ruling party figures such as former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Yoo Si-min in the 'ShillaJen incident.'

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