"Not Prosecuted?"... Choi Kang-wook and Han Dong-hoon Clash Head-on in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is touching his mask while attending a video cabinet meeting between the Seoul Government Complex and Sejong Government Complex on the 16th at the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] "Many opinions see me as more of a victim" (Choi Kang-wook, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker)
"Weren't you indicted?" (Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice)

At the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's plenary session on the 22nd, Choi Kang-wook, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea and a party involved in the so-called 'Channel A incident,' clashed head-on with Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice.

The Channel A incident refers to the case where Lee Dong-jae, a former reporter affiliated with Channel A, approached Lee Cheol, former CEO of Value Invest Korea (VIK), pressuring him to report corruption involving ruling party figures. Minister Han was involved in this case and underwent investigation for two years before being cleared of charges. Lawmaker Choi was indicted for posting false information related to the Channel A incident on social networking services (SNS).

During a procedural speech, Jeong Jeong-sik, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, pointed out, "The relationship between Minister Han and Lawmaker Choi is not about whether they were suspects or defendants in a general criminal case, but about the indictment concerning Minister Han's direct statements or the content of those statements," which sparked the direct confrontation between the two sides.

In response, Lawmaker Choi said, "At this point, I find it absurd and outrageous to think there might be some personal grudge, emotion, or orders at the regime level," adding, "(Minister Han) claims to be the victim, but aren't there many views that see me as more of a victim?"

During this remark, when Minister Han pointed out a conflict of interest by saying to Lawmaker Choi, "Weren't you indicted?" Choi raised his voice toward Minister Han, saying, "How dare you butt in."

Minister Han stated, "The actual victim in that case is me, and the perpetrator is Lawmaker Choi," adding, "I hope it is clearly addressed whether it is permissible under the National Assembly Act's conflict of interest provisions for a perpetrator to use their position as a member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to ask confrontational questions to the victim."

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