[2023 National Audit] Han Dong-hoon: "The Ministry of Justice Only Collects Personnel Data... Does Not Make Approval Decisions"

Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice, stated on the 11th during the Ministry of Justice's National Assembly inspection by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee that "The Ministry of Justice Personnel Information Management Team only collects data and does not make judgments on approval or disapproval" regarding the verification of high-ranking public officials' personnel.

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is reviewing documents at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit held at the National Assembly on the 11th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Minister Han made this remark in response to a question from Song Ki-heon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asking, "Did the Ministry of Justice conduct the verification of Lee Gyun-yong, the Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee who was rejected in the National Assembly's confirmation vote?"

Minister Han explained, "Since the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is directly nominated by the President without going through the judiciary's recommendation, the government side has conducted verification in the past as well," adding, "The structure is such that the Ministry of Justice Personnel Information Management Team collects data, and the Office of the President's Public Service Ethics Secretary makes the judgment." He emphasized, "We mechanically pass on the verified data and do not make separate recommendations or add opinions on legal violations."

When asked whether he confirmed the nominee's ownership of unlisted stocks or any failure to report them, Minister Han replied, "It is not appropriate for those involved in the verification of specific subjects to comment," and only stated, "We generally performed objective data collection tasks."

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