Seoul: Prime Minister Han Seong-sook expressed regret Friday after a member of her staff attended a lawmaker's press briefing at the National Assembly the previous day and asked questions while claiming to be an ordinary citizen.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the incident occurred on Thursday when Rep. Han Dong-hoon, an independent, was holding a press briefing about a lobbying scandal involving the justice minister nominee. Midway through the session, an unidentified individual posed a question regarding Han's criticism of the prime minister. Upon further inquiry from the lawmaker about his affiliation, the individual claimed to be an ordinary citizen, despite holding a mobile phone displaying a Telegram chat room titled "room for the prime minister and key senior officials."

It was later revealed that this individual was a director-level official from the Prime Minister's Office. During a parliamentary interpellation session later that day, Rep. Han Dong-hoon expressed strong outrage, accusing the Prime Minister's Office of conducting "illicit surveillance" on a lawmaker.

On Friday, Prime Minister Han Seong-sook expressed her regret, stating, "I offer words of regret to Rep. Han and to the people that (the official) caused unnecessary misunderstanding and controversy by answering that he is an ordinary citizen," during a parliamentary interpellation session. She further commented on the inappropriateness of a public official asking questions without proper identification at an opposition lawmaker's press conference.

The Prime Minister's Office issued a stern warning to the official involved but refuted the claims of surveillance, explaining that the official's questions were posed spontaneously while passing through the Rotunda Hall of the National Assembly, a publicly accessible area. "It is not true that he intentionally sneaked into the presser," the office clarified.