“Commissioner, can you listen to me please?”
Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon made this appeal to Democratic Party lawmaker Kwon In-sook at the plenary meeting of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee held on the 15th. A minister who was asked about the crime of adultery without consent was trying to answer, but when Congressman Kwon interrupted the minister several times, he could not resist him.
On this day, Representative Kwon referred to a minister’s comments during the government’s question time in the last National Assembly and said, “It is actually a lie to say that the suspect must bear 100% of the burden of proof, and it is this is true. is something prosecutors shouldn’t say.” In response, a minister tried to clarify the context of his comments at the time, saying, “I am not saying that ‘100% the suspect must prove it’, in a way that shifts the burden of proof… “.
Congressman Kwon then said, “Did you say ‘100% responsibility goes to the suspect’?’ I will ask a question,” interrupted one minister. Minister Han tried to explain, “No, what if I said the wrong thing and asked a question?”, but Representative Kwon asked, “How are you going to prove the threat of attack in relation to the crime of rape?”
In reply, when Minister Han blurted out, “Commissioner, what I mean,” Councilor Kwon interrupted again and continued speaking, saying, “Whatever.” Minister Han offered a dejected expression, saying, “An opportunity to speak…”.
Afterwards, a minister tried to say, “I have been prosecuted legally for over 20 years,” but Rep. Kwon said, “Have you investigated sexual assault? Have you investigated sexual assault?” To this, the minister said, “Of course. What do you see me as?” Rep. Kwon said, “Even if you know, you can’t say this. He repeated the question, “How can the prosecutor falsely induce that the accused will bear 100% of the burden of proof?”
The conversation between the two continued for over five minutes. During this process, a minister raised both hands and made an absurd expression or sighed. When Rep. Kwon stopped minister Han from speaking even after the microphone was turned off, exclamations of “Oh my gosh” and “Please listen” came out of the conference hall. The same questions were repeated, and the discussion on the crime of adultery without consent did not progress. In the end, Minister Han said, “The legislator does not allow discussion.”
In an investigation with Rep. Kwon, Minister Han only got a chance to speak after saying things like “Listen to me,” “Give me a chance to speak,” and “Don’t stop talking” about 14 times. Regarding the statement of ‘100% burden of proof’, he said, “If consent or not is an element of (rape), it will be difficult to prove it internally.”
As of 1:00 pm on the 16th, more than 8,000 comments were posted on the video. There were many opinions that it was a reason that they did not listen. On the 8th, in the government question, there was also a response comparing the attitude of Representative Ho-jeong Ryu from the Justice Party. At that time, Representative Ryu argued with Minister Han on the same topic, and the two tried to find a point of contact by listening to each other’s opinions. There were no words of bullying or ridicule.
