Handonghun and Park Yongjin Clash Over the 'Rolls-Royce Incident'

On the 12th, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon and Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yong-jin reportedly engaged in a heated debate over the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulations related to the identity guarantee in the 'Rolls-Royce incident.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the previous day, Lawmaker Park claimed on Facebook that the reason a man in his 20s who hit a pedestrian while driving a Rolls-Royce and tested positive for drugs was released immediately after the accident was due to "preferential treatment for former officials and Han Dong-hoon-style populism."

Earlier, the police confirmed a positive ketamine reaction through a simple reagent test on the suspect, Shin Mo (28), but after the defense attorney provided an identity guarantee, he was released about 18 hours after arrest, sparking controversy. Park argued that Minister Han is responsible for this because he failed to properly revise the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulation titled 'Guidelines on Identity Guarantees for Non-Detained Suspects.'

In response, Minister Han issued a statement that day, saying, "The Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulation is completely unrelated to the case, yet its content has been deliberately distorted to falsely claim that the prosecution directed or aided the police in releasing the suspect, misleading the public."

He added, "The regulation is merely a procedural rule concerning the process of receiving identity guarantee documents when detention is deemed unnecessary and the suspect is released. While I understand the desire to aggressively link and attack anything, politically exploiting such an incident without considering the victim is highly inappropriate," he criticized.

In turn, Lawmaker Park responded again on Facebook, saying, "I pointed out that it is the minister’s duty to revise investigative agency regulations and directives in accordance with the legal system established by the National Assembly, but is he interpreting this as an attack against himself? I was simply speaking as a member of the Judiciary Committee, but calling this a 'prince syndrome' is hard to accept?what kind of delusion is this?"

Minister Han countered once more, stating, "Considering that Lawmaker Park continues to hold important public offices despite being punished for drunk driving, it seems he is lenient toward driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Park’s claims regarding the 'Rolls-Royce drugged driving causing serious injury' case also appear inconsistent with his usual stance."

In response, Lawmaker Park posted again on Facebook, saying, "Seeing the minister turn criticism of a lawmaker’s role as Minister of Justice into personal attacks and coordinate Han Dong-hoon-style fandom targeting, it seems the minister’s 'prince syndrome' is at an incurable level."