Prosecution May Compel Media Company to Investigate Alleged Election Interference
There are speculations that the prosecution, currently examining claims of meddling in the presidential election and manipulation of public opinion, might take coercive measures to prompt a media company to conduct an investigation. The attention has been drawn to JTBC’s report in February last year, just before the presidential election, which suggested that President Yoon allegedly covered up the Busan Savings Bank scandal. Despite the statements made by Jo Woo-hyeong, a broker at Busan Savings Bank, refuting the involvement of President Yoon, his comments were not reflected accurately. To establish the truth, it is imperative to verify the circumstances of the report, examine the individuals involved in the interview, and secure the original interview data.
The reporter who previously worked at JTBC and has now joined Newstapa stated that they reported what they believed to be close to the truth. They also announced plans to release the full interview with Mr. Cho soon.
Investigation Team Expands its Focus
According to a commentary in the Seoul Shinmun on the 10th, the Special Investigation Team of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors is not only investigating Newstapa’s interview with Kim Man-bae, a private businessman suspected of political manipulation, but is also looking into media companies that disseminated distorted reports regarding the Busan Savings Bank scandal before the last presidential election.
One of the articles that warrants attention is JTBC’s publication on February 21 last year, titled ‘Daejang-dong financial scheme that avoided punishment despite two prosecution investigations,’ and ‘Daejang-dong financial scheme associates, coffee given by prosecutors,’ which appeared on the 28th of the same month. Another noteworthy article is ‘Story As A Heroic Story.’
During the investigation of the Busan Savings Bank case by the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in 2011, President Yoon, who led the Central Investigation Division 2, served as the chief prosecutor. The prosecution was handled by Mr. Cho, who acted as a fund manager for the Daejangdong project. It was alleged that Mr. Cho received coffee from prosecutors and evaded search and seizure of his account. At that time, reporter A based an article on the prosecution’s interrogation report of Daejang-dong businessman Nam Wook in November 2021, as well as interviews with Mr. Cho and his acquaintances. This article became the foundation for attacks by the Democratic Party of Korea and others against President Yoon, who was a presidential candidate, and subsequently led to extensive media coverage and public outcry.
However, in a recent investigation conducted by the prosecution, Mr. Cho made it clear that he had emphasized to reporter A, “There were no obstacles to the investigation, and President Yoon had no involvement.” Moreover, Mr. Cho was not considered a suspect during the Busan Savings Bank investigation, and his account was not subjected to search and seizure. A careful examination of the JTBC report from that time reveals that Cho did not explicitly mention “account search and seizure” in his interview, unlike the part where he mentioned, “A notice of (account search and seizure) was sent to me in a flash.” Additionally, Attorney Nam retracted his statement during the prosecution’s investigation in December 2021, stating, “I made a mistake regarding what I directly heard from Mr. Cho, that prosecutor Seok-yeol Yoon gave coffee to Mr. Cho.”
The prosecution suspects that JTBC or reporter A deliberately omitted this part. Consequently, some experts in the legal community believe that the prosecution might consider conducting a search and seizure, as well as questioning witnesses involved in the interview, to ascertain the events leading up to and following the report.
However, reporter A, now with Newstapa, argues, “It would be even more problematic if the report was solely based on Mr. Cho’s statements. Some of the reported content was corroborated through interviews with Mr. Cho,” and further added, “They claim that the recent information provided by Mr. Cho to the prosecution is false.” Reporter A informed the Seoul Shinmun, “We are currently preparing to disclose the entire 100-minute interview with Mr. Cho.”
Reporter Lim Joo-hyung
Interview with a Busan Savings Bank broker before the presidential election
Attention is drawn to the omission and distortion of the comments made by the ‘military officer’.
Possibility of compulsory investigation, such as search and seizure
At the time, the reporter said, “Cho Woo-hyung and his closest associates were also noticed.”
“Reporting content is considered to be close to the truth”
There are predictions that the prosecution, which is investigating suspicions of meddling in the presidential election and manipulation of public opinion, may take steps to compel a media company to investigate, pointing to how JTBC reported that ‘President Yoon’s suspicion Seok-yeol covers. up the Busan Savings Bank’ event in February last year, just before the presidential election. Although Jo Woo-hyeong, a broker at Busan Savings Bank, which is a key party in the suspicion, told reporters that President Yoon was not involved, it was not reflected, so the facts need to be confirmed, such as investigating the circumstances of the report, researching the people who took part in the interview, and securing the original interview data.
However, the reporter, who moved from JTBC to Newstapa, said he was reporting what he believed to be close to the truth and would soon release the full interview with Mr Cho.
According to the Seoul Shinmun comment on the 10th, the Special Investigation Team of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) not only covered Newstapa, which reported an interview suspected of possible political manipulation by Kim Man-bae, a private businessman . in Daejang-dong, but also covered the case of President Yoon’s savings bank just before the last presidential election We look into the media companies that made distorted reports about the suspicions.
Among these, JTBC reported on February 21 last year the article ‘Daejang-dong financial scheme that avoided punishment despite two prosecution investigations’ and ‘Daejang-dong financial scheme associates, coffee given by prosecutors’ published on the 28th from the same month… We pay attention to the article ‘Story As A Heroic Story’.
During the investigation of the Busan Savings Bank case by the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in 2011, the chief prosecutor was President Yoon, who was the head of the Central Investigation Division 2, and the prosecution was handled by Mr. Cho, who was He served as a fund manager for the Daejangdong project, by giving him coffee and not ordering it even though his account was searched and seized. At the time, reporter A wrote an article based on the prosecution’s interrogation report of Daejang-dong businessman Nam Wook in November 2021 and interviews with Mr. Cho and people around him. The Democratic Party of Korea and others used this article as a basis to attack President Yoon, who was a presidential candidate, and some media continued to follow up with reports, causing an uproar.
However, it is known that Mr. Cho has stated in a recent prosecution investigation that he emphasized to reporter A at the time, ‘There was no obstacle to the investigation and President Yoon had nothing to do with it.’ Additionally, he was found to be a reference rather than a suspect during the Busan Savings Bank investigation, and the account was not searched or seized. If you look at the JTBC report at the time, it seems that Cho did not directly use the words ‘account search and seizure’ as in the part of Cho’s interview, “A notice of (account search and seizure) was sent to me in a flash.” Attorney Nam also reversed his statement during the prosecution’s investigation in December 2021, saying, “I was mistaken, not what I heard directly from Mr. Cho (prosecutor Seok-yeol Yoon gave coffee to Mr. Cho).
The prosecution suspects that JTBC or reporter A deliberately omitted this part. For this reason, some in the legal community believe that the prosecution could consider conducting a search and seizure, as well as investigating witnesses involved in the interview, to learn about the process before and after the report .
However, reporter A via Newstapa said, “It would be more problematic if the report was reported only after hearing what Mr. Cho said. “Some of the reported content was confirmed by interviewing Mr. Cho,” he said, adding, “They say that the information that Mr. Cho recently told the prosecution is false.” Reporter A told the Seoul Shinmun, “We are preparing to reveal the entire 100-minute interview with Mr. Cho.”
Reporter Lim Joo-hyung
#JTBC #targets #report #suspected #interference #investigation.. #Reporter #Release #full #interview
