Handongsoo, Head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department, "Channel A Case Essentially a Violation of the Public Official Election Act"

Manager Han "Then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's Unusual Behavior... Furious, Told Not to Show Off"
"Using Media to Privatize Prosecutorial Power... Ambitious Subordinate and Act to Secure Majority Seats"

Handong-su, Chief of Inspection Division, Supreme Prosecutors' Office

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Han Dong-soo, head of the Inspection Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, who appeared as a witness at the confirmation hearing for Han Dong-hoon, nominee for Minister of Justice, stated that the so-called 'Channel A incident' is not essentially a case of attempted coercion, but rather a violation of the Public Official Election Act.

At the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 9th, Han said about the Channel A incident, "It was an act to secure a majority of seats in legislation by privatizing prosecutorial power backed by conservative media power, together with ambitious and intelligent subordinates."

Han also said that Yoon Seok-yeol, the president-elect who was the Prosecutor General at the time the Channel A incident broke out in April 2020, took an unusual action. He claimed, "The president-elect showed extremely unusual behavior that could not be simply seen as an act to protect his close aides," adding, "It is very rare for the head of the Inspection Department to report directly, but I saw him putting his legs on the desk, using his smartphone, and telling me to 'leave my report in the left corner,' which I had never seen before."

He continued, "The key issue of the case was whether the voice in the audio file was identical to the voice of the informant Ji-mo and nominee Han," and explained, "If that was cleared, it would prove that there was no charge against nominee Han. We received voluntary submission from him, and if not, we planned to conduct a search and seizure, but (President-elect Yoon) told us not to put on a show."

Han also testified that when he informed President-elect Yoon of the intention to start an inspection related to the Channel A incident, Yoon became furious. He said, "At that time, (President-elect Yoon) was on sick leave, so there was no opportunity to meet. On April 7, 2020, I was told to report the start of the inspection by text message, so I sent the document attached, but the next day, a report on the start of the inspection appeared in the Chosun Ilbo," adding, "This constitutes a leak of official secrets, and although I was not active on Facebook at the time, there was a very stereotypical and tiresome method of attacking my political neutrality through the Uri Law Research Association, which I belonged to."

He added, "Regarding obstruction of investigation, there was a report in the JoongAng Ilbo that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office planned to open a professional investigation advisory group through the chief prosecutors' meeting, but (President-elect Yoon) took an unusual and special action by directly calling the public relations officer of the Central District Prosecutors' Office and telling him 'Do not respond to false reports,'" and said, "I thought he really cared for his close aides, but it was excessive, and looking back now, it was done together. He received instructions, shared them, and acted together."