Handonghun Files 500 Million Won Compensation Lawsuit Against KBS Reporter Over 'Misreported Transcript'

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon (47, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 27) has filed a lawsuit seeking 500 million KRW in damages related to KBS's 'Busan Recording Report'.

According to the legal community on the 4th, Prosecutor Han's side announced that they filed a lawsuit for damages caused by illegal acts against eight individuals, including the head of KBS's news department, at the Seoul Southern District Court. The total amount of the lawsuit is 500 million KRW, but they decided not to sue the broadcasting station itself.

Earlier, on the 18th of last month, KBS reported on News 9 that a conspiracy relationship was revealed in the recordings between Prosecutor Han and former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae.

In response, Prosecutor Han's side released a statement saying, "KBS's report is a complete fabrication, as if a conversation that never actually existed took place," and added, "It is purely fictional, and both the timing and content of the report are extremely malicious."

The day after the report, on the 19th, former reporter Lee disclosed part of the recordings, and Prosecutor Han filed a defamation complaint against the reporter and related investigative agency personnel at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office. KBS then apologized, stating, "We apologize for the parts of the article where unconfirmed facts were expressed definitively," effectively admitting to a false report within a day. Subsequently, Prosecutor Han's side also filed a defamation complaint by publication against KBS reporters involved in the report and investigative agency personnel who provided false investigation information to KBS at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office.

Currently, Prosecutor Han's position is that he cannot respond to the prosecution's summons until the suspicion that a senior official of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office was involved in the KBS report is clarified. Prosecutor Han's legal representative stated in a press release, "A key senior official of the Central District Prosecutors' Office was directly involved in the KBS report that falsely defamed Prosecutor Han, and it is suspected both inside and outside that this official viewed the investigation team's materials," adding, "We have requested a minimum reasonable explanation that the investigation team is unrelated to this."