Kwon Kyung-ae: "Han Sang-hyuk called around 9 PM saying 'Han Dong-hoon must be ousted'"... Han Sang-hyuk says "I didn't know about MBC report"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] MBC's report in March on the so-called 'Geomeon Yuchak' (collusion between prosecutors and media) suspicion is now turning into a truth dispute over the so-called 'Gwon-eon Yuchak' (collusion between authorities and media) suspicion, where a high-ranking government official allegedly knew about it in advance.

On the 5th, lawyer Kwon Kyung-ae, who posted and then deleted a message on the social networking service (SNS) Facebook saying she received a call from a high-ranking government official a few hours before MBC's Geomeon Yuchak report was released, posted an additional statement that afternoon.

Regarding the claim that she spoke on the phone just before the MBC report, Lawyer Kwon corrected the time, saying, "It is true that I received a call from Han Sang-hyuk, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, around 9 p.m. on March 31."

She said, "That day, I was working overtime without having seen the MBC report when I received a call from Chairman Han," and added, "I checked the report a few hours after the call, so there was an error in my memory regarding the timing."

However, she recalled that the content of the call seemed to be related to the 'Geomeon Yuchak' suspicion.

Lawyer Kwon said she spoke with Chairman Han for nearly an hour and a half, and that at the time, Chairman Han said things like, "Yoon Seok-yeol (Prosecutor General) and Han Dong-hoon (Chief Prosecutor) must be ousted," "Han Dong-hoon is really a very bad guy. He must be ousted," and "I was investigated as a proxy. He is really a bad guy," summarizing and disclosing the content.

She added, "Although Han Dong-hoon's name was not mentioned in the MBC report that I confirmed later, his name was mentioned immediately after the report, which made me strongly suspicious," and "I have Telegram chat records of such conversations with acquaintances."

She continued, "I posted the message without deep consideration of the consequences of the act," but emphasized, "However, I cannot shake the question of why Chairman Han Sang-hyuk mentioned Han Dong-hoon's name and Busan on March 31, even though MBC only reported 'Prosecutor A' that day. This is why I still suspect the possibility of Gwon-eon Yuchak. Such suspicion cannot be covered up by errors in memory about the timing."

Han Sang-hyuk, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, who was identified as the high-ranking government official who spoke with Lawyer Kwon at the time, denied this.

On the same day, Chairman Han released a statement several hours before Lawyer Kwon, saying, "The report that I spoke with Lawyer Kwon Kyung-ae just before the MBC report on March 31 about the collusion suspicion between Channel A reporter and the chief prosecutor is a clear falsehood," and stated, "The call time was 9:09 p.m., more than an hour after the MBC report was released."

Chairman Han also released a screenshot of the call log from his mobile phone at the time.

He said, "The content of the call was unrelated to the MBC report," and added, "It is not true that I knew about the Channel A case in advance before the report."

Chairman Han stated, "Speculative reports based on such falsehoods, suggesting prior knowledge of MBC's report, are intentional and malicious," and said, "I will hold Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, and other media legally accountable for reports containing the same falsehoods."