[2023 National Audit] Today's Ministry of Justice Audit... Han Dong-hoon Responsibility Debate Expected

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee will conduct a government audit of the Ministry of Justice starting at 10 a.m. on the 11th. On this day, a heated confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties is expected over Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon's 'accountability.' Members of the Democratic Party of Korea, who are pushing for Han's impeachment, are likely to pressure him with sharp questioning.

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is attending the Cabinet meeting held on the 4th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Minister Han will attend the Ministry of Justice government audit held by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee in the morning and respond to questions on current issues. He will visit the National Assembly for the first time in 20 days since explaining the reasons for requesting the arrest consent of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 21st of last month.

The first topic expected to be raised at the audit is the seemingly inadequate 'personnel verification.' The Ministry of Justice's Personnel Information Management Division has faced criticism for failing to properly verify the abilities and qualifications of candidates such as Lee Kyun-yong, nominee for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Kim Haeng, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family. Lee was suspected of omitting property declarations and evading gift tax, which led to doubts about his qualifications and ultimately resulted in the rejection of his appointment consent bill in the National Assembly. Kim faced allegations of misappropriating company funds during the acquisition of management rights, which led to criticism from opposition lawmakers and the disruption of her confirmation hearing.

Questions are also expected to pour in regarding the investigation status of the prosecution, which the Ministry of Justice supervises. In particular, Minister Han and Democratic Party lawmakers may engage in a verbal battle over the prosecution's investigation targeting Lee Jae-myung. The arrest warrant for Lee, which was dismissed by the Seoul Central District Court on the 27th of last month, is likely to be mentioned. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office requested an arrest warrant for Lee related to the Baekhyun-dong development preferential treatment, Ssangbangwool Group's North Korea remittance, and perjury coaching cases, but the warrant was dismissed by Judge Yoo Chang-hoon, who is in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court. Democratic Party lawmakers reportedly prepared for the audit by arguing that the prosecution is conducting coercive investigations without proper evidence based on this dismissal. Minister Han's detailed explanation of the charges against Lee when requesting arrest consent may also come under scrutiny.

Additionally, the suspicion surrounding the '2021 Democratic Party Convention money envelope distribution,' involving about 20 Democratic Party lawmakers, and the false interview incident between former Press Union Chairman Shin Hak-rim and Kim Man-bae, major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, which occurred just before the last presidential election, are expected to be major topics of inquiry by both ruling and opposition committee members. Opposition members are likely to launch a questioning offensive regarding the stock price manipulation allegations against First Lady Kim Geon-hee, which have been evaluated as insufficiently investigated. On the other hand, ruling party members are expected to strongly urge thorough investigations into the statistical manipulation allegations of the Moon Jae-in administration, which the prosecution recently began investigating.

Minister Han is also expected to explain the current progress of various policies that the Ministry of Justice has announced or is reviewing. These include life imprisonment without parole, proposed as an alternative to the death penalty; the Korean-style 'Jessica Law,' which prohibits high-risk sex offenders from residing within 500 meters of schools or childcare facilities upon release; and the establishment of the Immigration and Immigration Management Agency (tentative name).