Park Cheol-woo, the chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, stated that the decision not to forward a request for international criminal justice cooperation from the police to the Ministry of Justice regarding allegations against the daughter of independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon was "not typical."
During a National Assembly audit on October 19, Park made this remark in response to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Park Kyun-taek about the 2022 decision by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office not to send the request for cooperation to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Ministry of Justice.
In November 2022, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency requested international criminal justice cooperation from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office concerning allegations that Han's daughter sold an e-book containing math problems created by someone else on Amazon for $0.99. However, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office cited insufficient justification for the need for cooperation and deemed the matter minor, thus not forwarding the request to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Ministry of Justice, which was headed by Han at the time.
In response, Park criticized, "Just because the book was priced at $0.99 does not mean that the value of copyright or the moral integrity of the Minister of Justice's family is trivial. The decision on whether to forward the request should be made by the Ministry of Justice, not the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which should not have halted the process out of concern for the burden on U.S. investigative agencies."
He also questioned the appropriateness of the police investigation, stating, "There was no search and seizure, nor were any relevant individuals summoned. Is it reasonable to dismiss the case without even verifying public records that could have been easily obtained?"
Meanwhile, Han and his family were reported to the police in May 2022 for allegations of plagiarism, ghostwriting, and inflating volunteer experience, facing charges of obstruction of business and interference with official duties. The police decided not to pursue the case in December 2023, citing a lack of evidence.
Han's camp has strongly denied all related allegations. On October 10, Han stated on social media that the copyright issue regarding the e-book had been resolved with the foreign copyright holder and dismissed the claims of investigation suppression as "delusional" from the Democratic Party.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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