No Charges for Shin Jeong-hoon and Acting Chief Yoo Jae-sung: What This Means for Korean Politics?

Former Korea Communications Commission Chairwoman Lee Jin-sook filed a complaint against Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Jeong-hoon and Acting National Police Agency Commissioner Yoo Jae-sung for abuse of power. However, both received a non-prosecution decision.

On December 9 of last year, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office dismissed the allegations of abuse of power against lawmaker Shin and Acting Commissioner Yoo, according to legal sources on the 14th.

Lee accused Shin of demanding a forced investigation against her during a full meeting of the National Assembly’s Administrative Safety Committee. She filed the complaint on August 11 of last year.

Lee also filed a complaint against Yoo, alleging that he instructed the National Investigation Headquarters to swiftly investigate the same case.

Lee herself was under police investigation, initiated by Democratic Party lawmakers in July of last year. She faced accusations of embezzlement for allegedly misusing corporate credit cards for personal expenses while serving as president of Daejeon MBC from 2015 to 2018.

During an Administrative Safety Committee meeting on August 5 of last year, Shin told Yoo, “We must conduct a swift, forceful investigation, and if any evidence of wrongdoing emerges, we should not hesitate to pursue immediate arrest.” Yoo responded by saying he would instruct the National Investigation Headquarters to conduct a prompt investigation.

Lee’s representatives have reportedly appealed the prosecutor’s non-prosecution decision on January 7 of this year.