The Democratic Party of Korea and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon clashed head-on on the 2nd over the investigation into allegations that late former President Roh Moo-hyun received money and valuables. The party demanded an apology, saying Han was presenting as fact a matter on which no court ever ruled, while Han shot back by asking whether the party was claiming Roh had not received Piaget watches worth 300 million won ($208,000).
Cho Kye-won, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said in a written briefing that day that Roh was questioned as a suspect on April 30, 2009, that no arrest warrant was sought, and that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office central investigation unit closed its preliminary inquiry on June 12, after Roh's death, on the grounds that prosecution was no longer possible.
Cho added that former first lady Kwon Yang-sook and Roh's son Roh Gun-ho were questioned only as witnesses and that no family member was indicted. "President Roh denied the allegations, and the malicious public disclosure of the 'watches in the rice paddy' suspicions drove him to his death," Cho said. Turning to Han, who previously served as justice minister, Cho said: "There is no court ruling. A former prosecutor is calling allegations from the investigation stage facts. He is nothing short of a devil."
Cho also raised allegations surrounding Han and his family. "Han, who keeps harping on facts, why is he silent about the allegations over his daughter's college admissions?" Cho said. "I urge him to appear before investigative authorities and answer with facts on the criminal allegations against himself and his family — the allegations over posts written under family members' names on the People Power Party's member bulletin board, the leak of investigative material from prosecutors' files, which constitutes disclosure of official secrets, violations of the Personal Information Protection Act, and defamation."
Cho went on to say Han should "get on his knees and apologize to former President Roh and his bereaved family" and "turn himself in at a police station and take the investigation into his own crimes."
Rep. Yoon Gun-young of the Democratic Party also joined in. "How can Han Dong-hoon, who is practically a symbol of the distortion of prosecutorial power, be so brazen and contemptible?" Yoon wrote on Facebook. "Is he saying that because the man has passed away, he can be disgraced at will?"
Yoon continued: "Then start by disclosing the password to your own cellphone. And explain the process by which you tried to seize power together with Han Duck-soo immediately after the illegal insurrection of Dec. 3." He also said, "He who rises by a glib tongue falls by a glib tongue," and demanded that Han "stop at once this outrageous behavior of disgracing a deceased man for his own political gain."
Han responded immediately. Sharing Cho's statement on Facebook, he wrote: "Is the Democratic Party's official position that former President Roh Moo-hyun himself or his family really did not receive two Piaget watches worth 300 million won and billions of won from his patron Park Yeon-cha? The Democratic Party's official position that he did not receive them is a lie."
He went on: "If the Democratic Party is so confident in what it says, go ahead and file a complaint against me for defaming the dead. Then you will be punished for false accusation. Because what I say is fact."
Han also posted a separate message aimed at Yoon. "Cut out the gaslighting of the public with the 'Roh Moo-hyun as victim' myth that you have been running for nearly 20 years, and just say this one thing — did he take it or not? You know it too, Rep. Yoon. He took it," Han wrote.
He also asked: "Are you saying Roh Moo-hyun himself or his family did not receive the 300-million-won Piaget watches and billions of won from his patron Park Yeon-cha, or that he did receive them but you want to keep posing as a victim of a fabricated investigation? It's the latter, isn't it?" He added, "But Rep. Yoon Gun-young, would any of that show up on my cellphone? Hardly."
The exchange was triggered when Han brought up the Roh investigation at a forum held at the National Assembly the previous day under the title "Prosecutors, the Gates of Hell Open Tomorrow." At the forum, Han argued that "in order to claim that every case in which Democratic Party politicians took money and were investigated was a fabrication by 'devil prosecutors,' they created and instilled the myth that former President Roh was a victim of a fabricated investigation."
