Regarding the court testimony by former Deputy Chief of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Han Dong-su that Ino-gong, Deputy Minister of Justice, made a toast for the presidential bid at a dinner party arranged by President Yoon Seok-yeol during his time as Prosecutor General, Deputy Minister Ino-gong strongly denied it as "absurd false testimony" and announced a strong response.
Deputy Minister Ino-gong's position is that he had already left the prosecution by the day of the dinner party mentioned by former Deputy Chief Han, so he did not even attend the dinner, and that Han's testimony is an intentional falsehood.
Inogong, Deputy Minister of Justice (left), and Han Dongsu, former head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department. [Image source=Yonhap News]
In a statement titled "Position on the October 30 Court Testimony of Former Deputy Chief of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Han Dong-su" delivered to the press on the same day, Deputy Minister Ino-gong said, "Han Dong-su testified yesterday that '(On March 19, 2020) it was a time when work was heavy and stress was accumulating. A lightning meeting was held at the office of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol. There was a dinner near Sorae Village in Gangnam, Seoul. (Omitted) Deputy Minister of Justice Ino-gong, who was present, made a toast asking to achieve the presidential bid. Seeing such a scene made me feel that I was still in the prosecution,' as reported by several media outlets including Newstapa. However, this testimony is an absurd falsehood."
He continued, "I resigned from the prosecutor position in February 2020, and I did not attend the dinner party on March 19, 2020, mentioned by Han Dong-su. Naturally, I did not see Han on that day, nor did I make such remarks at any gathering."
Deputy Minister Ino-gong also added, "I will strongly respond to Han Dong-su's intentional false testimony."
Former Deputy Chief Han appeared as a witness at the trial of Son Jun-sung, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Daegu High Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor), related to the 'alleged report of a complaint' case held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 27 (Presiding Judge Kim Ok-gon) the previous day, where he made the controversial remarks. However, contrary to Han's statements, Deputy Minister Ino-gong left the prosecution in February 2020 after serving as the 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and lastly as Chief of Seongnam Branch of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office.
Han Dong-su is a 'pro-Moon Jae-in' figure appointed by then Minister of Justice Cho Kuk shortly before his resignation in October 2019 and approved by President Moon Jae-in. Despite being a senior official at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office during his tenure, he consistently sided with the Minister of Justice and opposed then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol.
He led disciplinary actions against former Prosecutor General Yoon, including appearing as a witness at the disciplinary committee when former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae requested disciplinary measures against Yoon. He also clashed with Yoon while conducting an inspection of then Chief Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon related to the Channel A case. He submitted his resignation last July with more than a year remaining in his term.
Meanwhile, Newstapa, which reported on former Deputy Chief Han's court testimony the previous day, initially reported that Han testified that "Deputy Minister of Justice Ino-gong, who was present, made a toast asking to achieve the presidential bid" at the dinner party arranged by then Prosecutor General Yoon. However, the article was later corrected to state that "at another dining occasion, Deputy Minister of Justice Ino-gong made a toast asking to achieve the presidential bid."
In response, Newstapa explained, "The part of the article regarding Deputy Minister Ino-gong's toast was confirmed to have occurred at a dinner party other than March 19, 2020, so we have corrected it. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."
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