"Park Hong-geun, who said 'We will protect Moon Jae-in and Lee Jae-myung,' sues Han Dong-hoon for defamation... Han says 'I told the truth'"

On March 24th, Park Hong-geun, then floor leader candidate, delivering his policy speech at the party caucus meeting. Photo by Media Today TV on YouTube.

[Asia Economy Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter] On the 28th, Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, filed a complaint with the police against Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon for defamation.

The issue arose from Minister Han's remarks during the public hearing of the constitutional complaint case related to the 'Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Rights' (Geomsu Wanbak) law held at the Constitutional Court the previous day. Minister Han responded by saying it was 'telling the truth' and that 'there is no need to say more.'

On the same day, Floor Leader Park filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against Minister Han for defamation by spreading false facts under the Criminal Act and violation of Article 70, Paragraph 2 of the Information and Communications Network Act (defamation by false facts for the purpose of slander).

Minister Han, representing the petitioners in the constitutional complaint at the Constitutional Court the previous day, stated in his testimony, "Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Hong-geun advocated for the separation of investigative authority from the prosecution and publicly declared, 'I will definitely protect President Moon Jae-in and Senior Advisor Lee Jae-myung.'

This statement was made in the context of arguing that the amended Prosecutors' Office Act and Criminal Procedure Act, known as the 'Geomsu Wanbak' law, were 'unconstitutional' because they were created with a 'wrong intention' by some politicians to evade criminal investigations ahead of a regime change.

Additionally, Minister Han said, "Independent lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja, who opposed the Geomsu Wanbak law, said she heard from a Democratic Party lawmaker that 'If Geomsu Wanbak does not pass, 20 people from Moon Jae-in's Blue House will go to prison, so Geomsu Wanbak must be passed,'" and also mentioned, "Lawmaker Hwang Un-ha, who proactively proposed the bill and is under prosecution for allegations of election interference by the Blue House, said this law 'evaporates' prosecution investigations and that if Geomsu Wanbak had passed, he would not have been indicted."

All these statements were made to support the Ministry of Justice's claim that "Democratic Party lawmakers suddenly proposed the bill to abolish prosecutorial investigative rights after losing the presidential election four months ago and with the regime change approaching."

On March 24, during a general meeting of lawmakers held to elect the floor leader at the National Assembly, Floor Leader Park said in his policy speech, "The third floor leadership in the first year of the Yoon Seok-youl government carries an extremely important responsibility," and added, "We must resolutely block unfair oppression and firmly carry out reform and checks and balances."

He continued, "First, I will definitely prevent political retaliation," and said, "Looking at Yoon Seok-youl's arrogance and lack of communication, and his hostile attitude toward President Moon Jae-in and the Democratic Party, it is serious."

Furthermore, Floor Leader Park stated, "If hostile relations, political retaliation, and prosecutorial overreach become a reality, I will fight with everything I have," and "I will definitely protect President Moon Jae-in and Senior Advisor Lee Jae-myung."

Although Floor Leader Park did not explicitly state that Minister Han claimed he was pushing for legal amendments to evade criminal investigations, it is understood that Park considers Minister Han's remarks, which implied that he publicly declared advocating for the separation of prosecutorial investigative rights and protecting certain politicians, to be a clear false statement.

He argues that Minister Han maliciously pieced together statements out of context by connecting them with remarks of a different intent.

Additionally, Floor Leader Park holds the position that Minister Han's posting of such testimony on the Ministry of Justice's website constitutes defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.

Meanwhile, regarding Floor Leader Park's complaint against him, Minister Han stated through the Ministry of Justice on the same day, "It seems to be dissatisfaction with a public argument made in an open courtroom, but since the trial lasted five hours, rather than doing this outside the courtroom afterward, if there is something to say, it would have been better to say it confidently in the courtroom," and added, "We told the truth, and since the public, the media, and the constitutional court justices all saw it, there is no need to say more."