Handonghun Inauguration Day Jeong Jin-woong Trial...Dispute Over 'Intentional Assault' Key Issue

Jeong Jin-woong, a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice (then head of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office), who was indicted on charges of assaulting Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon during a search and seizure operation, is attending the continued second trial held on the 29th at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] In the process of the Channel A case search and seizure, the appellate court for Jeong Jin-woong, a research fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute who was prosecuted for assaulting newly appointed Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, focused on the intentionality of the assault.

The Criminal Division 2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Lee Won-beom, Han Ki-soo, Nam Woo-hyun) stated on the 17th during the appellate trial of Jeong, who is accused of official assault, that the court is considering this issue as a key point and will verify to what extent both sides acknowledge the facts and where their recollections differ.

The prosecution maintains that, as stated in the indictment, Jeong intentionally assaulted Minister Han, and that the victim’s testimony, given the day after the incident, is highly credible. On the other hand, Jeong’s defense repeatedly emphasized in court that Jeong merely lost his balance and fell while trying to obtain Minister Han’s mobile phone.

The court requested the prosecution to analyze and submit information on how the furniture such as sofas and tables were arranged at the time of the incident and how much they were displaced as a result, stating that this is an "objective circumstance regarding the extent of physical force used at the time."

The court plans to conclude the trial procedure by summoning a prosecution investigator who witnessed the scene on the 14th of next month for witness examination.