Jin Joong-kwon Criticizes MBC's 'Yoon Seok-yeol Coverage'... Urges Not to Act as a Fixer for a Specific Political Faction

Former Dongyang University Professor Jin Joong-kwon. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon, Intern Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon criticized the MBC report on the 31st of last month, which claimed that the Yoon Seok-yeol prosecution team colluded with a Channel A reporter to uncover misconduct by Yoo Si-min, director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, saying, "They should not act as troubleshooters for a specific political faction."

On that day, Jin wrote on his Facebook, "It seems like the MBC news is also set up. I somehow feel like they are framing this," expressing his opinion.

He stated, "Strange people have appeared attacking the mother-in-law, and Yoo Si-min laid the groundwork suggesting that Yoon Seok-yeol could become a target of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) investigation," adding, "There is a thrilling feeling that something big will break out soon."

He continued, "MBC reported that Yoon Seok-yeol’s close aides colluded with media companies, and the Open Democratic Party issued a statement demanding the Ministry of Justice conduct an inspection," speculating, "What is going on?"

He further pointed out the MBC report, saying, "Reporters should be faithful to reporting. That reporting should be for the public interest," and "They should not slander a specific party or politician or act as troubleshooters for a particular political faction."

Earlier on the same day, Jin also wrote in another post, "(Regarding the MBC report) such actions severely violate journalistic ethics and must be strictly dealt with," adding, "It seems they have caught a scent of something, but even if they cannot reveal the facts, the investigation should be conducted in a proper manner."

Meanwhile, Channel A responded to the MBC report, saying, "We secretly filmed the scene where the source who requested leniency from the prosecution met with the Channel A reporter, and received secretly recorded conversations between the source and the reporter, which we reported," and "We find the intention and background of MBC’s obsession with investigations unrelated to the main issue?the suspicion of political involvement in the SillaJen case?suspicious." They added, "We want to ask whether this violates journalistic ethics," and "We plan to respond strictly according to legal procedures to any parts of the MBC report that are factually incorrect or distorted and exaggerated."