Han Dong-hoon

Han Dong-hoon (Korean: 한동훈; Hanja: 韓東勳; born 9 April 1973) is the 69th minister of justice of South Korea, serving in the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Han previously served as a junior anti-corruption prosecutor and played a leading role in multiple high-profile cases, including those involving Samsung executive Lee Jae-yong, former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, and family members of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. Considered a protégé and close associate of Yoon, Han served as a principal deputy when the president held senior positions in the Korean prosecution service.

Early life

Han was born on April 9, 1973, in Seoul, where he completed his high school education. He then attended Seoul National University's law school, where he obtained his Bachelor of Law degree. In 1995, while still in college, he passed the bar exam and then attended the Judicial Research and Training Institute (27th class). His first assignment as a legal professional was to serve as a military advocate in the ROK Air Force and finished his military duties with the rank of captain. He obtained a master's degree in law from Columbia Law School in New York in 2005 and was admitted to the New York State Bar.

Career as prosecutor

In 2001, Han was appointed to the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office and began his career as a prosecutor.

When he was appointed to the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in 2003, he first met with Yoon Suk-yeol to investigate SK Group's accounting fraud and helped arrest chairman Chey Tae-won, and investigated the presidential slush fund case, Hyundai Motor corruption case, and the Lone Star sale case.

In 2016, Park Young-soo's special prosecutor team investigated the case of the government manipulation of state affairs with Yoon Suk-yeol investigation team leader and arrested Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics.

In 2017, Han was appointed as the third deputy prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which oversees anti-corruption and special investigations, and assisted Yoon Suk-yeol When he was the 3rd deputy prosecutor, he led the arrest of former President Lee Myung Bak by revealing that he was the real owner of auto parts maker "DAS" and investigated former Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae's alleged abuse of judicial administrative power and handed over a large number of former and current high-ranking judges to trial.

In 2019, he was promoted to the chief prosecutor and led the investigation of the family of the Minister of Justice Cho Kuk as the head of the anti-corruption and power department, even though he was widely regarded as corrupt and immoral. In 2020, then Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae demoted Han to Busan High Prosecutors' Office as deputy prosecutor in the first prosecution personnel reshuffle. In June 2020, he was demoted to a researcher at the Legal Research and Training Institute due to the 'Channel A scandal'. In June 2021, due to the Ministry of Justice's personnel reshuffle with the prosecution, he was demoted again to the vice president of the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

On May 17, 2022, Han was appointed as the 69th Minister of Justice of the Republic of Korea.

Minister of Justice (2022–2023)

In his first speech as Justice Minister, Han stated that he would revive the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office's Joint Securities Crime Division (Korean: 증권범죄합수단) that was abolished by his predecessor Choo Mi-ae. Han stepped down from the minister post in December 2023 to take over as the interim leader of the ruling People Power Party.

Political career

Han took office as the People Power Party's emergency committee chairman on December 26, 2023.

Despite his history as Minister of Justice in Yoon Suk-yeol cabinet, media reports often highlighted the 'conflict' between Han as ruling party leader and the government. In January 2024, Han received a request from the President's Office to resign as emergency committee chairman of PPP. The media claimed that this was due to his remarks regarding First Lady Kim Kun-hee's suspicions of luxury bag corruption. He rejected calls for his resignation and reaffirmed his previous position about the first lady on January 22. However, after a brief meeting with the president at the scene of the fire at the market in Seocheon on January 23, he made no further mention of Kim Kun-hee. Kim Kyung-yul, another major figure who was appointed to the emergency committee by Han and criticized the first lady, announced that he would not run in 2024 election.

In the process of advocating for the abolition of the privilege of non-arrest of National Assembly members, Han stated that he would nominate only those who pledged to give up the privilege of non-arrest as candidates for the 2024 election.

During the election period, Han responded to the theory of judgment on the Yoon Suk-yeol regime put forward by the Democratic Party of Korea by using the term Lee Cho Judgment (이조심판). He focused on attacking Lee Jae-myung and Cho Kuk, the leaders of the two major opposition parties, as 'criminals', formed the Lee Cho Judgment Special Committee, and made it an election strategy to highlight their past controversies. As the election period neared its end, he focused on highlighting the controversies of some candidates from DPK, including Yang Moon-seok and Kim Jun-hyuk.

He resigned from his position as chairman of PPP emergency committee on April 11, after losing the election.