The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which conducted an ex officio investigation into the "Yangpyeong County public official case" involving a death by suicide after leaving a note following questioning by special counsel Min Joong-ki's team over suspicions related to Kim Keon-hee, decided to reach a conclusion after further discussion.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) held its 20th plenary session on the 24th and decided to resubmit the item. Commissioners who received the investigation report that day agreed they needed time to review it. The NHRC plans to hold another plenary session at 3 p.m. on Dec. 1 to decide on conclusions related to the ex officio investigation results.
Public official A from Yangpyeong County was questioned as a suspect on the 2nd over suspicions of preferential treatment in the Yangpyeong Gongheung District development and was found dead on the 10th of the same month. As A left a note stating that special counsel investigators forced false statements and then made an extreme choice, controversy arose over whether the special counsel conducted a coercive investigation.
As a result of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency asking the National Forensic Service to conduct a handwriting analysis of A's suicide note, the assessment found a high likelihood that the handwriting in the deceased's note and the handwriting recorded in items such as the work planner A routinely used were written by the same person.
At its 19th plenary session on the 20th, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) submitted an ex officio investigation plan into human rights violations related to the death of the Yangpyeong County public official and passed it with six in favor and two against. It then notified the special counsel on the 23rd that it would begin the ex officio investigation.
An ex officio investigation is one that can be initiated without a victim's petition under Article 30 of the National Human Rights Commission Act. Depending on the outcome, remedies, policy recommendations, criminal complaints, and requests for investigation are possible.