Acting police chief: “Considering a full reinvestigation into ‘fake credentials’ allegations involving Han Dong-hoon’s daughter”

[Financial News] Kim Jong-cheol, acting chief of the Korean National Police Agency, said he would consider reopening the investigation into the so-called “fake credentials” allegations involving lawmaker Han Dong-hoon’s daughter, as well as an internal inspection of the investigators involved at the time.
On the 12th, during the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee’s audit of the Korean National Police Agency, acting chief Kim responded to DPK lawmaker Yoon Geon-young’s call for a full reinvestigation of the case, saying, “I believe it was handled according to procedure and in line with the law and principles, but I won’t rule out the possibility if new facts emerge.” After being repeatedly urged to consider a reinvestigation, he said, “I will consider it.”
Yoon criticized the police investigation at the time, saying, “There wasn’t a single search warrant or witness interview over a year and eight months. Is questioning only the person who filed the complaint for a year and eight months really an investigation? If this wasn’t a case of going easy on them, what was it?”
Yoon also cited then-National Investigation Headquarters chief Woo Jong-soo’s explanation at a press briefing that many witnesses had been questioned, and pressed for details about the actual number. Kim replied, “I’ll check. I haven’t looked into that yet.”
When Yoon suggested that the investigators might not have made enough effort to actively secure evidence, Kim said, “I hesitate to say this, but I do think more proactive investigative efforts may have been needed.”
Calls for an internal inspection of the investigators involved at the time also continued. Kim said, “I understand that the Ministry of Justice is looking into the facts as part of its audit. We will take follow-up measures accordingly.”
Jeong Chun-saeng, a lawmaker with the Rebuilding Korea Party, also pointed to problems with the investigation. Jeong pressed Kim on why the police had not amended their request for international mutual legal assistance to address the reasons for its rejection by prosecutors.
Kim replied, “Shouldn’t we have made an active effort to establish the facts of the case?” When Jeong asked for his view of the investigative methods used at the time, he said, “I don’t think that was a routine investigative approach.” Jeong again asked whether he acknowledged that there had been investigative errors, and Kim replied, “I’ll look into whether there were any mistakes.”
DPK lawmaker Park Ju-min raised new questions about how an ebook made by lawmaker Han’s daughter was sold on Amazon. According to Park, police at the time determined that it was difficult to establish a profit motive because the textbook was listed for sale on Amazon at $0.99 per copy and the sales fee was also $0.99.
However, citing an earlier media interview in which Han said the textbook had also been listed for ebook self-publishing, Park said, “I checked and found that if it is sold on Amazon’s website, about 35% can be earned in royalties.” He added, “It is true that the police could not investigate at the time because international mutual legal assistance was unavailable, but they did not even check things that could have been found just by looking at the website,” and urged, “Since new evidence was presented today, I hope they will begin a reinvestigation immediately.”
Earlier, in May 2022, civic groups including the People’s Livelihood Economy Research Institute filed a police complaint against lawmaker Han, his wife and daughter, alleging that his daughter had built up false credentials through ghostwriting and plagiarism of academic papers, inflating her volunteer service record, and other means.
The Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency decided not to refer the case to prosecutors in December 2023, after about a year and eight months of investigation, citing no suspicion of wrongdoing, among other reasons. Police said they could not confirm the specific review rules of overseas academic journals in connection with the alleged ghostwriting of papers, and found it difficult to establish a profit motive for the alleged violation of copyright law through the creation and sale of ebooks.
After the complainants’ side challenged the investigation’s findings, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Investigation Review Committee reviewed the case again in June 2024, but concluded that it would not be reinvestigated.
[email protected] Kim Ye-ji Reporter