Citizen Group Files Complaint Against Committee Chair Minhee Choi for Separately Meeting NewJeans Hani Before National Assembly Audit Attendance

A civic group has reported Choi Min-hee, chairperson of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, to the police for separately meeting with Hani (20, real name Hani Pham), a member of the girl group NewJeans, who appeared as a witness at the National Assembly audit of the Environment and Labor Committee.

NewJeans' Hani is speaking as a witness at the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee audit held on the 15th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the 21st, the Committee for the Protection of the Common People’s Livelihood (Seominwi) announced that it had filed a complaint against Chairperson Choi at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on charges of abuse of authority and neglect of duty. In the complaint, Seominwi claimed, "After Chairperson Choi requested a meeting with the Environment and Labor Committee, she received a call from someone and separately met with ‘Hani’ in the Environment and Labor Committee’s office, which constitutes abuse of authority by exploiting privilege."

They continued, "If the ruling party lawmaker’s allegation that she left the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee meeting in charge of opposition party whip Kim Hyun of the Democratic Party and met with ‘Hani’ in the Environment and Labor Committee’s office while neglecting her standing committee duties is true, this also constitutes neglect of duty." They emphasized, "If the criminal facts are revealed through a swift and thorough investigation, a strict standard must be applied according to the principle of zero tolerance."

The Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee conducted an audit of the Korea Communications Commission on the 15th, but the ruling and opposition parties clashed and the session was disrupted over the fact that Chairperson Choi filmed Hani’s appearance at the National Assembly and then met her separately.

Chairperson Choi’s side explained, "The NewJeans incident is related to the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, which oversees broadcasting, so it is natural for the chairperson to take an interest. The meeting took place during a recess, not during the committee session. The chief expert of the Environment and Labor Committee arranged the meeting, and she went to the location, but since it was almost time to resume the audit, she only exchanged greetings and returned to the chairperson’s office around 13:57."