Kim Seung-won, the nominee for justice minister, said the route by which internal prosecution investigation records reached independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon "must be uncovered."
Kim made the remark at a confirmation hearing before the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 15th, after Rep. Kim Dong-ah of the Democratic Party of Korea asked whether he had ever passed his own text messages to Han. "I have never done that," Kim said. "Even I, who was investigated and ultimately received a suspension of indictment, was refused when I asked prosecutors for the investigation records. I cannot understand how such investigation records made their way to former Minister Han Dong-hoon, and that is something that must be uncovered."
Kim stressed that the materials Han disclosed included not only text messages between himself and Kim Kang-lip, then the head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, but also an indictment plan, which he said was an internal prosecution document. "I have 30 years of legal experience and have served as a judge, but this is a document I have never once seen," he said. "I believe it absolutely must be uncovered how such confidential internal prosecution material made its way to former Minister Han Dong-hoon."
He also raised the need to review the prosecution's internal computer network. "It has not even been verified whether electronic information on citizens who have been investigated is hidden in the D-Net system at the ministry or the prosecution," he said. "If I become minister, I must carry out a detailed and thorough review for the sake of citizens' universal human rights."
Kim reaffirmed the same position in response to questions from Rep. Lee Sung-yoon of the Democratic Party about the leaking of case details. Asked whether an indictment plan and transcripts of text messages and voice recordings were materials an ordinary politician could obtain, Kim replied, "Absolutely not." Asked to thoroughly investigate the leaking and disclosure of case details to prevent a recurrence, he said he would do so if confirmed as minister.
Kim also took issue with the disclosure of case details, noting that his own case is currently under a suspension of indictment. "Because it is now under a suspension of indictment, it is before charges have been filed," he said. "Discussing the details of the case against me falls squarely under the offense of disclosing case details."
Kim criticized the allegations raised by Han as well as the prosecution's past investigative practices more broadly. "Did the prosecution under former Minister Han Dong-hoon really conduct selective investigations and political investigations?" he said, adding that the "sweeping, dragnet-style investigations" of Democratic Party figures were "clearly problematic." He said that if confirmed, he would do his utmost to ensure investigative authority is exercised "in the fairest and cleanest manner, maintaining political neutrality."
