Police Launch Investigation into Jeong Soon-shin over Alleged False Answers in Personnel Verification Questions

The police have launched an investigation into lawyer Jeong Sun-shin, who is suspected of concealing the fact of a lawsuit related to his son's school violence during the personnel verification for the head of the National Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Headquarters (Guksu Bonbu Jang).

Lawyer Jeong Sun-shin [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 2nd, the Seodaemun Police Station in Seoul announced that it had been assigned the case of lawyer Jeong, who was reported to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on charges including forgery of false official documents and obstruction of official duties by deception. The civic group Seomin Minsaeng Countermeasures Committee (Seomin Daechaegwi) had filed a complaint against lawyer Jeong and Police Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun, who recommended him, to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the 28th of last month.

Lawyer Jeong is accused of falsely answering "No" to the question in the preliminary questionnaire for public office candidates sent by the Ministry of Justice's Personnel Information Management Team during the personnel verification process for the head of the Criminal Investigation Headquarters. The question asked whether he, his spouse, or direct relatives were involved as plaintiffs or defendants in any civil or administrative lawsuits.

Commissioner Yoon was also reported on charges including abuse of authority, coercion, and violation of the Employment Procedures Act. The Seomin Daechaegwi stated, "The failure to properly verify is a collapse of the reliability of the personnel verification system and a personnel disaster," adding, "As a result, the honor of 140,000 police officers and 30,000 investigators has been damaged, and the police investigation function has been temporarily paralyzed, constituting abuse of authority, coercion, and violation of the Employment Procedures Act."

Meanwhile, lawyer Jeong has explained regarding the allegations, "I thought it was a present-tense question. I answered based on the present tense," denying that he gave a false answer.