Seoul police review complaint alleging shoddy probe into Han Dong-hoon's daughter scandal

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has begun reviewing a complaint alleging that investigators mishandled a probe into suspicions that Han Dong-hoon, now an independent lawmaker, fabricated his daughter's academic credentials during his tenure as justice minister.

The agency said Friday that a complaint filed with the Korean National Police Agency over allegations that the investigation into Han was suppressed had been transferred to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Thursday. "We plan to assign the case after carefully reviewing its contents," the agency said in a press notice. The complaint was received by the agency's anti-corruption investigation unit.

Civic groups, including Seoul-ui Sori, had filed the complaint with the National Investigation Headquarters of the Korean National Police Agency, accusing Han and the prosecutors who handled the original investigation of abuse of authority, obstruction of rights and dereliction of duty. The complaint centers on allegations that prosecutors inadequately investigated suspicions that Han's daughter published a plagiarized book to bolster her application to a prestigious American university while he served as justice minister in May 2022.

Calls for a reinvestigation into the allegations against Han emerged as a central theme during this round of national audits, driven primarily by lawmakers aligned with the broader opposition bloc.

At the National Police Agency audit conducted by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee on Monday, Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Jeong Chun-saeng said investigators had gone in "determined not to look into" the allegations against Han, whether prosecutors or police. "The police must prove their investigative capabilities by actively pursuing a reinvestigation into Han Dong-hoon," he said, adding, "How can the police conduct investigations into those in power if they lack the resolve to see things through to the end?"

When asked whether police would reopen the investigation into Han, acting Korean National Police Agency Commissioner Kim Jong-cheol said he believed the original investigation had followed the law and principles, but added that he would "not rule out the possibility of a reinvestigation if new facts come to light."

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Yoon Geon-young pushed back, saying a reinvestigation was not merely worth considering but was clearly warranted, and that the investigators involved at the time should also face an internal audit. "We must thoroughly examine the preferential treatment given during the Yoon Suk Yeol era," he said.

Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's policy research institute, posted on social media that day calling for a special prosecutor to investigate Han. "We must use a 'Han Dong-hoon special prosecutor act' to verify Han Dong-hoon's 'innocence' and his daughter's 'genius,'" he wrote.