▲ Representative Han Dong-hoon questioning Prime Minister Han Sung-sook
Prime Minister Han Sung-sook and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon engaged in a fierce war of words at the National Assembly plenary session on the 10th over allegations that an official from the Prime Minister's Office interfered in Representative Han's press conference.
During the interpellation session that day, when Representative Han asked, "An official from the Prime Minister's Office lied about being a private citizen and asked questions defending the Prime Minister at my press conference. Is this appropriate?", Prime Minister Han replied, "If there are any inappropriate parts, we will handle them strictly."
When Representative Han presented a photo showing a Telegram chat room titled "Prime Minister + Key Officials" on the individual's mobile phone and asked, "Wasn't this under the Prime Minister's instructions?", the Prime Minister answered, "That is not true," adding, "If true, I think it is inappropriate. I will look into what measures are necessary."
Subsequently, when Representative Han asked, "Is the Prime Minister's Office conducting surveillance on opposition lawmakers?", Prime Minister Han rebutted, "I think that is a very inappropriate remark."
When Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Ji-won gave her an opportunity to explain the issue during the following questioning sequence, Prime Minister Han explained, "Representative Han was taking questions in a public space, and it seems an official who happened to be passing by asked, '(Why is yesterday's Prime Minister's order) an investigation directive?'" She added, "When asked 'Who are you?', the response was apparently something like 'I am an ordinary citizen.'"
She continued, "If asking a question in a public space while passing by constitutes surveillance, aren't we being placed under surveillance every single moment?", adding, "I think calling it (surveillance) is an overstatement."
During the interpellation, Representative Han also raised an issue by directly naming and giving the title of the Prime Minister's Office official who participated in the question-and-answer session while claiming to be a private citizen.
Furthermore, responding to protests from the Democratic Party side, including lawmaker Song Young-gil, during the questioning, he snapped back, "Did you come to a baseball stadium? Be quiet," and "Go to a baseball stadium to make noise."
After the plenary session concluded, Representative Han took to Facebook to criticize further, stating, "This is not something a section chief at the Prime Minister's Office could do alone without orders from higher-ups, and another official was present at the scene. Do not try to downplay this," and demanded, "Prime Minister Han should strictly discipline the Prime Minister's Office section chief and take responsibility herself."
Lawmakers from the pro-Han faction of the People Power Party also joined the offensive, calling it "regime-style surveillance" (Lawmaker Seo Bum-soo).
Prime Minister Han and Representative Han also clashed over the Prime Minister's order the previous day to verify how investigation materials were leaked in connection with the "new drug solicitation" allegations surrounding Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won.
Representative Han argued, "Can the Prime Minister direct an investigation? Is it okay to meddle like this in a specific case?", and added, "You should know when to step in and when to step back. You will get hurt this way."
In response, Prime Minister Han countered, "(The leak of materials) can also be viewed as a matter of public official discipline."
During the question-and-answer session with lawmaker Park Ji-won, Prime Minister Han also explained regarding this, "I don't understand how any part of it was read as an investigation directive," and clarified, "The Ministry of Justice is not going to investigate Representative Han Dong-hoon."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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