It was reported on the 11th that the prosecution decided not to indict Han Dong-hoon, former representative of the People Power Party, and his spouse for allegedly covering up a school violence incident.
According to the legal community, the first division of the Women and Children's Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Director General Kim Ji-hye) dismissed the case against former Representative Han and his spouse, U.S. attorney Jin Eun-jung, for abuse of authority and violation of the School Violence Prevention Act on the 8th. The case involving the middle school principal, Mr. Lee, who was reported for the same charges, was also dismissed. Dismissal occurs when the lawsuit lacks the proper legal requirements and concludes the case without a ruling on the merits.
Earlier, prior to the April elections last year, the Democratic Party of Korea and civic groups alleged that a middle school located in Gangnam had concealed and minimized a school violence report incident that occurred in May 2023, and that former Representative Han's son was involved in the incident.
The civic group Justice for Judicial Reform Citizen Action (Saseheng) claimed that former Representative Han, who was the Minister of Justice at the time, exerted pressure to cover up the incident. It filed complaints against former Representative Han, his spouse Jin Eun-jung, U.S. attorney, and the principal of the middle school, Mr. Lee, to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. At that time, former Representative Han denied the allegations regarding the suspicions.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials transferred the case to the prosecution in May of the same year, but the prosecution made a dismissal decision about a year later. It is known that the prosecution made this decision considering that the allegations were unlikely to fall under the duties of the Minister of Justice.