CIO chief says Yoon case over alleged obstruction of Han Dong-hoon probe dismissed for lack of grounds to establish a crime; draws fire from ruling party

[Financial News] The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) has closed a case filed against former President Yoon Suk Yeol over allegations that, while serving as prosecutor general, he obstructed an investigation and inspection involving Han Dong-hoon, then a senior prosecutor. The CIO dismissed the case five years after receiving the complaint. Although it concluded that no crime had been established, the agency was heavily criticized by the ruling party during a parliamentary audit over the length and conduct of its investigation.
According to legal circles on the 13th, the CIO dismissed on July 10 a case in which the Democratic Party of Korea had filed a complaint in 2021 accusing former President Yoon of abuse of authority and violating the Personal Information Protection Act.
The CIO determined that it was difficult to conclude that Yoon’s order to halt the inspection and his convening of the Professional Investigation Advisory Committee were intended to serve private interests or other unlawful purposes. It also found no clear evidence to prove this, and concluded that there was no need for it to initiate and conduct its own investigation.
In October 2021, the Democratic Party of Korea had filed a complaint with the CIO, alleging that Yoon obstructed inspections and investigations while serving as prosecutor general, including by ordering an inspection to be halted in connection with allegations of collusion between Han Dong-hoon, then a senior prosecutor, and a Channel A reporter.
At the time, the Democratic Party of Korea claimed that “Yoon’s actions obstructed the legitimate exercise of the rights of the Inspection Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office,” and that “there are grounds to suspect him of abuse of authority and violating the Personal Information Protection Act.”
In response to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Yong-min’s criticism that “a decision favorable to independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon was made,” CIO chief Oh Dong-woon said at a National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit that day that the agency had examined whether the conduct constituted an unlawful criminal act, but concluded that no crime had been established.
When Kim said, “Prosecutors also dismissed the same case, saying the basis for the complaint amounted to nothing more than rumors and speculation, but the court found that investigation and inspection had been obstructed,” Oh replied, “The part said to conflict with the ruling concerns disciplinary matters in an administrative trial; whether a crime was established in a trial is somewhat different.”
When Kim asked whether Oh and Han had been in contact, noting that they were classmates at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, Oh denied it, saying, “I had no contact with him before or after the case was disposed of, and we are not in contact at all.”
[email protected] Yu Seon-jun Reporter