"Private Texts Funded by National Budget" Kim Eui-gyeom's Claim Denied by Han Dong-hoon as "Another Lie"

On the 19th, Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, claimed that Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon "used the text notification system operated with national budget for personal purposes," to which Minister Han responded, "He lied again."

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon [Image source=Yonhap News]

Minister Han issued a statement that day, saying, "Assemblyman Kim lied again by claiming that I issued a statement through the 'Ministry of Justice text notification system operated with national budget,'" and added, "Such a system does not even exist."

He continued, "I conveyed my position directly to the press corps via my personal mobile phone without going through the Ministry of Justice spokesperson's office," and added, "Of course, no national budget is used for this."

Kim's remarks criticized Minister Han's rebuttal of Democratic Party member Park Chan-dae's claims related to cryptocurrency the previous day, where Han mentioned, "Have you now taken over the role of spreading fake news from Assemblyman Kim Eui-gyeom on behalf of the Democratic Party?" On the same day, Kim wrote on his social media (SNS) Facebook account, "Why drag me into this matter? No matter how much you dislike me, this is not right."

He further criticized, "Putting everything aside, Minister Han sent such content through the Ministry of Justice text notification system," and questioned, "Is it acceptable to spew writings full of personal bias on a system operated with national budget? If public systems are used for personal purposes, is there any guarantee that prosecution investigations will not also be used for political gain?"

The Ministry of Justice sends text message notifications under the name of the spokesperson's office when distributing press releases to accredited reporters. Minister Han does not use this text message system but instead informs the press corps through his personal mobile phone.