Prosecution decides to close false testimony case related to ex-PM

Seoul (South Korea), March 21: The top prosecution office said Sunday that it has finally decided to put an end to the reexamination of allegations of false testimony in a bribery case involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook.
The Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) said it reported the decision to the Ministry of Justice the previous day.
It came as a group of senior prosecutors reached a conclusion to drop the false testimony case after a 13-hour marathon meeting on Friday.
Han, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2007, was imprisoned from 2015-2017 after being convicted of accepting about 900 million won (US$795,000) in illegal political funds from a late businessman while in office.
Last year, allegations surfaced that prosecutors had forced the late businessman's fellow inmates to give false testimony against Han during her trial in 2011 to win her conviction.
Earlier this month, the SPO dismissed the perjury charges, but Justice Minister Park Beom-kye ordered the SPO last week to see if there was any "unreasonable decision-making" in the process.
The statute of limitations for the case expires Monday.
Han has long claimed innocence, arguing that she never accepted the money and that the charges against her were fabricated as part of political revenge by a conservative government against the former liberal administration of late President Roh Moo-hyun.
As South Korea's first female prime minister, she is a representative figure of the country's contemporary liberal bloc. Supporters of the ruling Democratic Party regard Han as having suffered suppression due to political purposes.
Source: Yonhap