"Park Geun-hye Not Legally Guilty," People Power Party Sewol Special Prosecutor Nominee, Interviewed Last Month

Professor Han Seok-hoon of Sungkyunkwan University School of Law, a candidate recommendation committee member for the People's Power Party's Public Corruption Investigation Office, is leaving the meeting room during the 6th meeting of the candidate recommendation committee held at the National Assembly on the 28th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] On the 13th, Han Seok-hoon, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University School of Law and a member of the Sewol Ferry Special Prosecutor Candidate Recommendation Committee recommended by the People Power Party, claimed in a media interview last month that former President Park Geun-hye was "not legally guilty."

The title of the interview article Han gave to Monthly Chosun last month, marking the 4th anniversary of Park's impeachment, was "4th Anniversary of Park Geun-hye's Impeachment, Professor Han Seok-hoon's Legal Analysis of the Impeachment Case Verdict: 'It is Difficult to Find Evidence of Park Geun-hye's Guilt in the Constitutional Court's Decision.'"

He said he analyzed the Constitutional Court's impeachment decision and the rulings of the first and second trials and the Supreme Court over six months. Professor Han stated, "It is not correct to describe former President Park Geun-hye's case as 'state manipulation.' The term 'state manipulation' presupposes guilt. In the past, major cases were referred to as 'Lee Yong-ho Gate,' 'Park Yeon-cha Gate,' etc. This case should be named the 'Choi Seo-won Gate.'"

He also said, "The court recognized guilt for 14 out of 47 documents charged with 'breach of official secrets,' but acquitted the remaining 33 due to lack of evidence. However, from a legal scholar's perspective, I believe even those 14 documents are not guilty."

He continued, "Former President Park Geun-hye received advice from Choi Seo-won on speech expressions since the presidential election. This time as well, she simply instructed Secretary Jeong Ho-sung to 'hear Choi Seo-won's opinion on some documents' to get advice as usual." He added, "The documents were related to sports policy measures and the president's overseas visit schedules. These documents were not classified as secret under the law."

Professor Han further stated, "The 14 documents were not secret documents, and even if they were secret, it was not a leak. There was no intent to leak. Choi Seo-won has long been an advisor to the president. It is reasonable to see that the president asked for Choi Seo-won's opinion as she gathered various opinions, and it is difficult to view that the president intentionally leaked any secret documents to Choi Seo-won."

He added, "Even if Choi Seo-won used those documents for personal gain, if the president was unaware of this fact, the president cannot be punished for breach of official secrets. From a legal standpoint, it is not a crime."

Regarding abuse of power, he argued, "Did former President Park Geun-hye know that Choi Seo-won was asking for personal gain? If the president knew this and still asked Hyundai Motor Company to favor KD Corporation, then it would be guilty. However, the verdict does not prove that Park Geun-hye knew Choi Seo-won was seeking personal gain. Due to lack of evidence, it cannot be considered abuse of power."

Professor Han also participated last year as a recommendation committee member for the Chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) recommended by the opposition party. However, he did not participate in the vote, citing that the opposition party's veto power was nullified due to amendments to the CIO Act. It is known that he later filed administrative litigation and a constitutional complaint, claiming procedural issues in the CIO chief candidate recommendation process rendered it invalid.

He has served as chief prosecutor at Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, prosecutor at Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, and head of the research team at the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice.