Collision From the Start... Focus on Inquiries Regarding Han Dong-hoon and Lee Hwa-young

[Anchor]

National audits are underway today (Oct. 8) at nine standing committees, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. During the audit of the Ministry of Justice, questioning concentrated on investigations concerning lawmaker Han Dong-hoon and former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young.

Reporter Go Jeong-hyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

The parliamentary audit by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee targeting the Ministry of Justice and other agencies.

Clashes erupted from the very beginning over issues from the Supreme Court audit two days prior, when People Power Party lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu mentioned Owl Rock, where former President Roh Moo-hyun died, and Judiciary Committee Chairperson Seo Young-kyo suspended the speaking rights of lawmaker Kim and others.

[Park Hyung-su / Legislation and Judiciary Committee Member (People Power Party): Lawmaker Park Eun-jung first made that remark toward lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu, saying, "Be a human being," and lawmaker Kim Yong-min picked it up, saying, "He has never been a human being once."... When asked why she did that, only lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu's speaking rights were suspended.]

[Kim Yong-min / Legislation and Judiciary Committee Member (Democratic Party of Korea): Lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu continued to sneer and suddenly began criticizing and mocking the late former President Roh Moo-hyun. At the very least, lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu is someone who neither deserves to sit in this seat nor has the right to speak.]

During the audit, which began in earnest about an hour late, Democratic Party lawmakers poured questions toward Vice Justice Minister Lee Jin-su regarding independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon.

Lawmaker Park Kyun-taek stated that in November 2022, while Han was serving as Minister of Justice, police requested international judicial cooperation from the prosecution regarding suspicions over fabricated credentials of Han's daughter, but instead of forwarding the request to the Ministry of Justice and other bodies, the prosecution unusually decided not to send it.

[Park Kyun-taek / Legislation and Judiciary Committee Member (Democratic Party of Korea): The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office held onto the cooperation request from the police for 11 days before sending it back to the police.]

The People Power Party focused its questioning on former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young, who recently appealed for fairness and demanded parole.

[Joo Jin-woo / Legislation and Judiciary Committee Member (People Power Party): A situation is unfolding where Democratic Party lawmakers are now all going to visit former Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young. Given this level, wouldn't it be appropriate to restrict visits or take effective measures to prevent the destruction of evidence?]

Vice Minister Lee stated that he had never received requests from the presidential office or elsewhere regarding former Vice Governor Lee's parole.

He also added that former Vice Governor Lee currently does not meet the eligibility requirements for parole screening.

[Lee Jin-su / Vice Justice Minister (Acting Minister of Justice): At least one-third of a fixed-term imprisonment sentence must be served for each sentence to meet the basic requirements. That requirement has not been fulfilled.]

Regarding the Ministry of Justice's Future Prosecutors Committee, which has been embroiled in controversy over the withdrawal of indictments in cases related to President Lee Jae-myung, Vice Minister Lee re-emphasized that former Minister Jung Sung-ho made it clear he had no intention of ordering the withdrawal of indictments through specific case directives.

(Video by Oh Young-chun and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Oh Young-taek)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.