Jinwoong Jung, a prosecutor at the Daejeon High Prosecutors' Office who was acquitted of assaulting former People Power Party leader Han Donghoon in the course of duty, has also won his appeal in a lawsuit seeking to overturn disciplinary action imposed by the Ministry of Justice.
On June 25, the Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 11-3 (Presiding Judges Kim Woosu, Choi Suhwan, and Yoon Jongu) ruled in favor of Prosecutor Jung, upholding the lower court's decision in his appeal against the disciplinary action imposed by the Minister of Justice.
In July 2020, while serving as head of Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Jung was involved in a physical altercation with former leader Han, who was then a research fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute, during a search and seizure related to the so-called "Channel A case," in which Han was suspected of involvement. Prosecutors charged Jung with assault under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and brought him to trial in October 2020, but the Supreme Court acquitted him in November 2022.
Separately, in February of the previous year, the Ministry of Justice imposed a two-month suspension on Jung for "violation of official duties" and "damage to dignity" under the Prosecutors' Disciplinary Act. In response, Jung filed an administrative lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice seeking to have the disciplinary action overturned.
The lower court ruled in favor of Jung. The court at the time stated, "Given that there was an acquittal in the criminal case and considering the circumstances and degree of negligence involved in the violation of duties, imposing a suspension, which constitutes a severe disciplinary action, amounts to an abuse of discretionary power."
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