Jin Joong-kwon: "Yoo Si-min's Remarks Are a Vile Slander and Low Attack... Must Never Be Forgiven"

Former Dongyang University Professor Jin Joong-kwon and Yoo Si-min, Chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, having a New Year's debate. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon claimed that "Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon illegally surveilled the account of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation," and after being indicted for defamation by Prosecutor Han, he expressed the stance that "he must never be forgiven" regarding Yoo Si-min, director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation.

On the 6th, Jin wrote in a column for Shindonga that day, "(Director Yoo) did not tell a trivial lie. It was a serious lie that even led to the Minister's exercise of investigative control," asserting this position.

Jin criticized the statement by Kim Yong-min, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who said, "The government and state agencies should always be subject to public scrutiny and criticism in the course of their duties and cannot be victims of defamation," by saying, "It's absurd. Didn't he himself sue citizen Jin Joong-kwon for 'defamation' just because he criticized him a little? Aren't individual members of the National Assembly part of the state's legislative body?"

Jin said that after reading the complaint written by Council Member Kim, "I burst out laughing," and criticized it as "a sophistry that makes one doubt even normal literacy before legal knowledge."

He continued, "Apparently, the president is not considered part of the government or state agencies. The president sued an ordinary citizen for distributing leaflets that defamed him," adding, "Eventually, unable to bear the criticism, he withdrew the lawsuit. The president cannot even tolerate insults, but prosecutors are expected to endure defamation. Does this make sense?"

He then strongly refuted Council Member Kim's claim that Prosecutor Han's indictment was an "abuse of prosecutorial power," and that "Director Yoo argued, based on the fact that 'notification of transaction information provision was deferred,' that the prosecution looked into the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation's account. (This) corresponds to a reasonable suspicion for account inspection," stating otherwise.

Kim Yong-min, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 3rd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Jin said, "The problem is that there was no 'fact of transaction information provision' itself," and pointed out, "If information was never provided in the first place, what 'notification' could be 'deferred'?" He added, "This was admitted by Director Yoo himself," and criticized, "He failed to have the 'factual basis' necessary for raising the suspicion."

Regarding Council Member Kim's claim that "Director Yoo mentioned 'Prosecutor' Han Dong-hoon in the process of referring to the prosecution to which Han belongs, not Han as an 'ordinary citizen,'" Jin criticized, "His sophistry continues. Are public officials not ordinary citizens?"

Jin clearly stated, "Just because someone is a prosecutor by profession, does that mean it is acceptable to recklessly damage his honor with false information? No one has such a right."

He said, "Director Yoo's remarks were not pure criticism of state agencies. They were impure political actions to build the justification for so-called prosecutorial reform and to block investigations into their own misconduct," and fiercely condemned, "Director Yoo's lies were a vile slander against an individual named Han Dong-hoon and, at the same time, a low attack on democracy and the rule of law."

Finally, he asserted, "Director Yoo has continuously maintained this lie for over a year. He must never be forgiven. His crime must be thoroughly investigated and severely punished."