A leader of South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party on Monday demanded that independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon explain why prosecutors blocked a police request for U.S. legal assistance in an investigation into allegations about his daughter’s academic credentials.
Han Min-soo, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, made the demand in a post on X. He was responding to Han Dong-hoon, a former justice minister who was expelled from the main opposition People Power Party, after the lawmaker dismissed the allegations as “delusions” of the Democratic Party.
“Han Dong-hoon demands strict investigations of others, but answers suspicions about his own family with the word ‘delusion,’” Han Min-soo wrote, according to a Korean-language text of the post provided to The Associated Press.
Han Min-soo said that in November 2022, police asked for legal assistance from the United States to look into the allegations, but the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office rejected the request after 11 days without forwarding it to the Justice Ministry. He asked whether the then-justice minister, Han Dong-hoon, had influenced the decision.
He also questioned Han Dong-hoon’s account of allegations that a Kenyan ghostwriter wrote an academic paper credited to the lawmaker’s daughter. Han Dong-hoon has said the writings were practice pieces never meant for college admissions, and that his daughter had no contact with the writer. Han Min-soo asked why the work was submitted to an academic journal if that were so.
The dispute began Thursday at a parliamentary audit, where Democratic lawmaker Park Gyun-taek said Seoul police requested the U.S. assistance on Nov. 21, 2022, and that prosecutors notified police on Dec. 2 that they would not forward it. Acting Justice Minister Lee Jin-soo said the ministry would review the facts through the prosecution service. A prosecutor who handled the request at the time told South Korean media it was a minor case and that the decision was made at the working level.
Police concluded in December 2023 not to refer the case to prosecutors, citing insufficient evidence. Han Dong-hoon, who served as justice minister from May 2022 to December 2023, has denied wrongdoing.
In a Facebook post Saturday, Han Dong-hoon said the matter involved a copyright holder’s consent and that “nothing problematic exists.” He also raised allegations against Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok and Gyeonggi province Gov. Choo Mi-ae involving their sons. The Democratic Party has said the allegations against Han Dong-hoon should be investigated.
