Park Yong-jin Faces Backlash After Criticizing Han Dong-hoon [Law & Story]

Amid evaluations that the attack by Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who blamed Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon for the release of the suspect in the nationally condemned 'Rolls-Royce incident' after his arrest by the police, was essentially a 'misstep,' comments criticizing Park's handling of the situation?highlighting his prior drunk driving record?have been continuously posted on his Facebook page, drawing attention.

Among the comments, many pointed out that Park launched attacks against Minister Han without accurately grasping the facts, but there were also comments expressing gratitude by calling Park the 'Pearl of Conservatism' and 'X-Man.' In particular, some comments congratulated him for rising to the top ranks of real-time portal search terms through his verbal exchanges with Minister Han, while others sarcastically questioned whether he had achieved his goal.

As of 11:17 a.m. on the 13th, 'Rolls-Royce man Han Dong-hoon Park Yong-jin' ranks first in Naver Signal's real-time search terms. The 'Rolls-Royce incident' occurred on the afternoon of the 2nd when Shin (28) drove a Rolls-Royce SUV while under the influence of drugs near Apgujeong Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, crashed onto the sidewalk, and struck a woman in her 20s, leaving her in a brain-dead state. Initially, after investigating Shin and receiving a guarantor for his identity, the police released him. However, after the National Forensic Service's analysis detected various drug components in Shin's body, the police applied for an arrest warrant and detained him.

Was Shin's Release Due to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Regulations?… Park Yong-jin Misjudged

The controversy began when Park posted on his Facebook on the 11th under the title 'Threat to Livelihood, Han Dong-hoon-style Populism.' In the post, Park pointed out, "Fortunately, the Apgujeong Rolls-Royce man was arrested as justice was served, but the root cause of this commotion was preferential treatment for former officials and Han Dong-hoon-style populism." He added, "If there was a will to change the investigation guidelines under the pretext of protecting people's livelihood and rights, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulation on 'Guidelines for Identity Guarantees of Non-Detained Suspects,' which existed before the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and police, should have been abolished first."

Thus, Park argued that because the identity guarantee system remained, the police were able to release Shin, and the responsibility lay with Minister Han for not timely revising the related guidelines.

Following related reports, Minister Han issued a statement refuting Park's claims point by point.

Minister Han stated, "Park Yong-jin's claim is a false assertion intended to mislead the public into believing that the prosecution directed or contributed to the police's release of the suspect, despite the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulation Park mentioned being completely unrelated to this case."

Minister Han cited that ▲ the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulation concerning prosecution's command over police was already obsolete following the adjustment of investigative authority during the Democratic Party's tenure, making it irrelevant to this case, and ▲ the regulation Park criticized does not mean 'release suspects with identity guarantees even if they should be detained,' but rather is a procedural rule for cases where detention is unnecessary and release is granted with identity guarantees if needed.

In fact, the regulation's very beginning states that receiving an identity guarantee from a non-detained suspect is to urge attendance through the guarantor or to ascertain whereabouts if the suspect does not appear. It also notes that the practice has been to request identity guarantees from almost all suspects, which has caused issues such as detaining suspects or notifying guarantors of the suspect's indictment, damaging the suspect's reputation. The guideline was created to address these problems.

Minister Han also pointed out in his statement, "Park Yong-jin announced in April last year that he opposed the forced passage of the 'Complete Prosecution Reform' but then quietly voted in favor in May, so he should know better than anyone that the prosecution cannot direct the police investigation at all."

He added, "I understand Park Yong-jin's desire to attack me by forcibly linking anything, but considering the victim who suffered great harm unfairly, it seems very inappropriate to politically exploit even such incidents."

Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is holding a press briefing at the National Assembly Members' Office Building. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Only Drunk Driving Record Revealed for Park… Legal Circles Agree "Misjudged"

Later, Park posted again on his Facebook, claiming that Minister Han did not properly understand his position. He argued that he did not say the prosecution directed the police to release Shin but criticized why the outdated regulation from when the prosecution had investigative command was still in place. He also called Minister Han "prince syndrome?"

Minister Han responded with another statement, this time more directly targeting Park.

He said, "Considering that Park Yong-jin continues to run for important public offices despite being punished for drunk driving, it seems he is lenient toward driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs like in this case. Also, given his strong criticism during government questioning of the arrest warrant for Democratic Party member Roh Woong-rae, it appears he is negative toward detaining powerful serious criminals. In that respect, Park's claims regarding the 'Rolls-Royce drug driving injury' case seem inconsistent with his usual stance."

This pointed out that Park himself has a drunk driving record and had taken a critical stance against the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant for Roh, who is accused of accepting bribes worth tens of millions of won, yet Park is making different claims regarding Shin's custody.

In the legal community, the prevailing opinion is that Park's attack blaming Minister Han for the police's ability to release Shin due to the identity guarantee guidelines was a 'misstep.'

As Minister Han pointed out, the adjustment of investigative authority during the Democratic Party's tenure meant the prosecution had no involvement in the police's arrest and release of Shin. Moreover, the guideline in question was not designed to release suspects who should be detained simply because they had identity guarantees, but rather to ensure procedural rules for tracking and securing attendance of non-detained suspects when detention is unnecessary.

Mocking Comments and Supportive Comments for Minister Han or People Power Party Follow

Each of the three Facebook posts by Park attacking Minister Han regarding this incident received dozens to over 200 diverse comments.

Among the comments, those criticizing Park's drunk driving record were the most numerous. Some citizens even posted what appeared to be Park's criminal record from election campaign materials produced during the last general election. According to these, besides three violations of the Assembly and Demonstration Act, Park was fined 1 million won in 2009 for drunk driving. Citizens criticized Park's drunk driving punishment record through comments such as "Not something a person with a drunk driving record should say" and "Disappointed to learn Park has a drunk driving record."

There were also comments pointing out Park's reckless handling. One comment said, "As a member of the National Assembly, he should study and first realize how the current laws have been messed up by themselves, but he only focuses on attacking Minister Han without even knowing the laws they changed... (omitted) I question whether this is the attitude a legislator should have," criticizing Park for not accurately understanding the situation after the adjustment of investigative authority and the 'Complete Prosecution Reform' law amendments.

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is answering questions from the press at the National Assembly. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Many comments from citizens who appeared to support Minister Han or the People Power Party pointed out Park's misstep and expressed gratitude.

One citizen wrote with a 'thumbs up' emoticon, "Thank you so much... I never thought you would be the pearl of conservatism as well. Please keep doing well as X-Man." Others wrote, "Good that you got on the real-time search as you wanted," or posted screenshots of the real-time portal search rankings.

Some comments questioned whether Park was deliberately trying to stage a confrontation with Minister Han or mocked him by saying that since he appeared on the real-time search rankings, he had achieved his goal. One citizen wrote, "Why do you keep acting so disgracefully? Everyone already knows you misunderstood the regulation. (People who didn't know your name now know it thanks to Minister Han. So did you achieve your goal?) Hey, the principle is non-detention. You don't detain but also don't take identity guarantees?"

A senior legal expert said, "Since Minister Han has become such a hot issue, Democratic Party members seem to think that if they effectively attack him and deal a blow, their popularity among opposition supporters will rise significantly. But rushing in hastily only leads to embarrassment. Examples include Kim Nam-guk, who mentioned a non-existent 'aunt' of Minister Han's daughter at the National Assembly audit, and Kim Eui-gyeom, who was embarrassed after raising 'Cheongdam-dong drinking party' allegations without proper fact-checking."