The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials cleared Lim Eun-jeong, head of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, and former Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Director General Han Dong-soo of charges after they were accused of leaking official secrets.
According to legal sources on the 5th, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) decided not to indict the two on the 24th of last month, saying the allegations were not substantiated. It came five years after the complaint was filed and two years after compulsory investigation began.
Prosecutor Lim was accused of conspiring with former Director General Han in March 2021, when Lim served as policy and research officer for inspections at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, to post on Facebook the progress of handling the case of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook's alleged "subornation of perjury," internal reporting details, and other investigative information. Lim was said at the time to have mentioned in the post the process of inspections and investigations related to the former prime minister, internal disagreements, and determinations by the chain of command.
The civic group "Action Alliance for Establishing the Rule of Law" filed a complaint against Prosecutor Lim on charges of leaking official secrets, saying the post made public confidential information within the investigative agency.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) took over the case from the prosecution in May 2022 and conducted an investigation, searched the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department and other locations in Feb. 2024, and summoned Prosecutor Lim twice for questioning. However, the CIO was said to have concluded it was difficult to view the fairness and credibility of the investigation as having been undermined by Lim's post.
The "allegation of subornation of perjury in the Han Myeong-sook case" involves suspicions that, during the investigation into former Prime Minister Han's illegal political funds case, the prosecution team induced fellow inmates of former Hansin Geonyoung CEO Han Man-ho at the detention center to give false testimony against the former prime minister.
Prosecutor Lim posted on the prosecution's internal network (Epros) that day, saying, "I suffered as a suspect for about five years," and added, "Looking into the reasons for non-indictment, I feel I have safely cleared a hurdle and am relieved and grateful."