Absence from Hearing by Jeong Sun-shin... An Min-seok: "Legal Technicians Misusing Legal Techniques"

Attorney Jeong Soon-shin, who was appointed as the head of the National Investigation Headquarters but stepped down due to allegations of school violence involving his son, submitted another letter of excuse for absence from the National Assembly hearing held on the 14th to investigate the truth of the allegations. Ahn Min-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized Jeong, a former prosecutor, for abusing the fact that a compulsory escort order cannot be issued to him and thus not attending.

According to the National Assembly Education Committee on the 12th, Attorney Jeong submitted a letter of excuse for absence the day before the hearing titled "Hearing for the Investigation of School Violence by Jeong Soon-shin’s Child and Establishment of Measures to Prevent Recurrence," citing a diagnosis of panic disorder.

Attorney Jeong also did not attend the hearing held on the 31st of last month, submitting a medical certificate diagnosing a three-month panic disorder. In response, the Education Committee decided to hold the hearing again on the 14th, stating that the hearing could not proceed without the attendance of the key figure, Attorney Jeong.

Yoo Ki-hong, chairman of the Education Committee, strongly urged Attorney Jeong to appear. Chairman Yoo emphasized, "The reasons submitted by the witnesses are difficult to be considered legitimate excuses for absence under the Act on the Testimony and Inspection in the National Assembly (National Assembly Testimony and Inspection Act)," and added, "If witnesses do not attend, we will respond strictly according to the law and principles."

On the 31st of last month, a hearing was held at the National Assembly Education Committee to investigate the truth about school violence involving Jeong Soon-shin's child and to establish measures against school violence. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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According to the National Assembly Testimony and Inspection Act, when summoned as a witness or reference for testimony or inspection, one must comply unless there are special circumstances such as concerns about revealing facts that could lead to a guilty verdict. Failure to attend without justifiable reason or deliberately avoiding receipt of the summons may result in imprisonment of up to three years or a fine between 10 million and 30 million KRW.

However, this provision explicitly applies to procedures related to agenda deliberation, national audits, or national investigations. Ahn Min-seok of the Democratic Party explained that in this hearing, which is a standing committee hearing, even if Attorney Jeong continues to be absent, a compulsory escort order cannot be issued. In committees for national investigations or audits, if a witness or reference refuses to attend without justifiable reason, they can be ordered to be escorted.

Ahn criticized Attorney Jeong for exploiting the fact that a compulsory escort order cannot be issued in this hearing. On the 13th, he appeared on YTN Radio’s "News King with Park Ji-hoon" and said, "The compulsory escort order regulation does not apply to standing committee hearings, only to plenary sessions. It is only applicable to national audits and investigations, so there is no obligation in standing committee hearings like this one," adding, "Since Attorney Jeong is a legal professional, he knew that a compulsory escort order would not be issued and used his legal expertise to manipulate the law."

The hearing on the 14th is expected to proceed as scheduled even if Attorney Jeong does not attend. Ahn said, "It’s the Jeong Soon-shin hearing, but if Jeong is not there, it’s like a steamed bun without filling, meaningless," but added, "If Attorney Jeong does not appear until the end, we have decided to proceed with the hearing without him tomorrow. This is because we believe that even if the hearing is postponed repeatedly, Attorney Jeong will not attend until the end."

Ahn also announced a compulsory escort order for witnesses during the autumn national audit. He said, "It’s not over until it’s over," and added, "The national audit is in the fall, and we can request witness attendance again then. If they do not come at that time, we can issue a compulsory escort order according to the law."

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