Handonghun: "No Ungrae's Arrest Overwhelmingly Rejected, Rather My Explanation Was Insufficient"

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 30th, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon commented on the controversy over the appropriateness of his explanation to the National Assembly regarding the request for arrest consent for Democratic Party lawmaker Noh Woong-rae, saying, "Considering that the Democratic Party overwhelmingly rejected it, I think my explanation was not excessive but rather insufficient."

As he arrived at the Government Complex Gwacheon that day, Minister Han said, "The Democratic Party seems to want to reject it anyway with the power of the majority party, so they suggest not explaining in detail and just brushing it off, but a public official who receives a salary from taxes cannot do that."

Regarding the criticism that past Ministers of Justice explained mainly the gist of the suspect facts, he rebutted, "It seems they have not seen all the past explanations. There were many opportunities to explain the evidence in the past as well." He added, "The purpose is to provide substantial materials necessary to decide whether to consent to the arrest," and questioned, "How can one judge whether to consent to the arrest without evidence?"

Minister Han further pointed out, "The Democratic Party and lawmaker Noh claim that there is no fact of receiving money at all, so if that is the case, they should claim 'false fact disclosure' instead of 'disclosure of suspect facts.' However, they are only claiming 'disclosure of suspect facts.'"

Regarding the statement by Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, that "the prosecution under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has degenerated into a tool for destroying democracy," Minister Han said, "Politicians can say various things about investigations as political rhetoric, but attacking public officials investigating themselves by 'targeting' them is an illegal and unfair external pressure," criticizing the Democratic Party’s earlier disclosure of prosecutors’ lists in return. He emphasized, "It is the duty of the Minister of Justice to stop that," and added, "The prosecution and police will investigate fairly and objectively."

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