On January 13 last year, Lee Seong-yoon, the newly appointed Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (center), attended the inauguration ceremony held at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The investigation team probing the 'Channel A coercion attempt' case reportedly submitted an electronic approval last week for the 'no charges' disposition regarding Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon.
According to the legal community on the 24th, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Byun Pil-geon) concluded on the 22nd that there was 'no suspicion' in the investigation of Prosecutor Han and submitted the approval through the internal prosecution network.
Although Chief Prosecutor Byun had already approved the proposal submitted by the lead prosecutor, it is reported that the approvals from Deputy Chief Prosecutor Choi Seong-pil, who has been directing the division under the First Deputy Chief Prosecutor since Kim Wook-jun's resignation in December last year, and Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Chief Lee Seong-yoon have not yet been obtained.
Earlier, Chief Prosecutor Lee explained the background of the 'no charges' conclusion through a detailed report exceeding 100 pages last month but did not accept it and asked Deputy Chief Prosecutor Choi Seong-pil to review it again.
Subsequently, even though Deputy Chief Prosecutor Choi agreed with the investigation team's no charges conclusion, Chief Prosecutor Lee delayed the approval, leading the entire investigation team to recently request a meeting with him to convey their opinions once more.
Nevertheless, Chief Prosecutor Lee is reportedly refusing to approve the disposition, citing that the digital forensic analysis of Prosecutor Han's mobile phone has not yet been completed.
Typically, electronic approvals are used for simple cases that do not require face-to-face reporting. Therefore, the fact that the important case approval report, which Chief Prosecutor Lee said he would approve personally, was submitted in the form of electronic approval rather than face-to-face reporting is interpreted as a form of protest against Chief Prosecutor Lee's delay in approval.
Deputy Chief Prosecutor Choi can also make a final decision on the no charges disposition for Prosecutor Han. However, in this case, since it is meaningful to record what decision Chief Prosecutor Lee, who has delayed approval so far, will make, the prevailing view is that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Choi is unlikely to approve it.
It is known that Chief Prosecutor Lee took annual leave on the 22nd, the day the electronic approval was submitted.
On July 24 last year, the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee almost unanimously resolved to 'suspend the investigation' and 'recommend non-prosecution' for Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon.
However, despite the committee's recommendation to suspend the investigation, Chief Prosecutor Lee did not stop the investigation into Prosecutor Han. Rather, to secure additional evidence, Jeong Jin-woong, then head of the investigation division and now Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, personally went to the Judicial Research and Training Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, where Prosecutor Han was working, to attempt to seize the SIM card from Prosecutor Han's mobile phone. This led to an incident where Prosecutor Han was assaulted, and Jeong is currently on trial for 'official assault' under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
On August 5 last year, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong) indicted former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae on charges of 'attempted coercion' but ultimately failed to list Prosecutor Han as an accomplice in the indictment.
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