Ministry of Justice Halts Handwriting Event... Han Dong-hoon Says "Even Routine Promotions Should Be Stopped If Criticized"

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is attending the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 31st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Ministry of Justice halted an event that offered prizes for writing Minister Han Dong-hoon's inaugural speech in handwriting after it sparked controversy.

The Ministry of Justice had been running an event since the 27th of last month, where participants who wrote part of Minister Han's inaugural speech in handwriting and posted it on social networking service (SNS) accounts were entered into a draw to win department store gift certificates worth a total of 800,000 KRW in 50,000 KRW increments. The event was stopped on the morning of the 2nd under Minister Han's directive.

The Ministry explained that the event was "part of the ministry's routine promotional activities," but controversy arose. Criticism emerged that the public's precious tax money was being used to promote Minister Han personally.

According to the Ministry of Justice, Minister Han was reportedly not informed about the event in advance. After the event details were reported in the media and he became aware of it, Minister Han said, "Even if it is a routine promotional activity, if there can be critical views, it is better to stop it," and instructed the relevant departments, "Even if it has been done before, please refrain from any events that could be seen as personal promotion of the minister."

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