Lee Jeong-su, Head of the Central District Prosecutors' Office, to Receive Formal Report on 'Han Dong-hoon Channel A Case' This Week

Lee Jeong-su, the newly appointed chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, is arriving at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 11th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Lee Jung-soo, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, will receive a formal report from the investigation team this week regarding allegations involving Han Dong-hoon, Deputy Director (Chief Prosecutor) of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, in the 'Channel A case.'

According to the legal community on the 3rd, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Sun-hyuk) is expected to report the investigation status related to the accusation against Chief Prosecutor Han to Lee as early as the beginning of this week. They are likely to convey the progress of the investigation so far and the investigation team's opinions on the case handling results.

Attention is focused on whether the case will be finally resolved with this report. The investigation team has repeatedly advised the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office leadership that Chief Prosecutor Han should be cleared of charges, but the leadership has delayed case handling, citing the need for forensic analysis of Han's mobile phone, among other reasons.

At the end of last month, the investigation team reportedly submitted a no-charge opinion to Lee, only to receive a response along the lines of "let's wait just one more week," which sparked controversy. This was also cited as a background for Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye's consideration on the 31st of last month to restore the Prosecutor General's investigative authority over Chief Prosecutor Han's case, causing significant repercussions.

However, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office rebutted, stating, "While it is true that discussions about case handling took place at the investigation team level recently, a formal report to the Chief Prosecutor had not been made. Therefore, there was no rejection of such a report." They added, "Given the high public interest in the case, the Chief Prosecutor instructed the investigation team to report on the investigation status."

Currently, the final authority to handle this case rests with Chief Prosecutor Lee. This is because in July 2020, when President-elect Yoon Seok-youl was Prosecutor General, then Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae exercised investigative authority to exclude the Prosecutor General's command rights.

Regarding this, Minister Park considered restoring the command rights to Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo but halted discussions, citing concerns about potential misunderstandings.