Prosecution Adds Charges Against Choi Kang-wook... Defamation Allegations Related to 'Channel A Incident'

Choi Kang-wook, Leader of the Open Democratic Party / Photo by Jin-hyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party, has been additionally indicted on charges of defaming former reporter Lee Dong-jae, who was involved in the Channel A coercion attempt case.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Byun Pil-geon) announced on the 27th that Choi was indicted without detention the previous day on charges of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act. In April of last year, Choi posted on his Facebook that former reporter Lee had demanded Lee Cheol, former CEO of Value Invest Korea, to report misconduct related to Yoo Si-min, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation. In the post, Choi claimed that Lee said, "It doesn't matter if it's not true. To save yourself, say that you gave money to Yoo Si-min, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation. Then it ends there."

The civic group Action Alliance for Establishing the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) filed a complaint with the prosecution against Choi in April last year, stating that the post constituted defamation against former reporter Lee. Beopse-ryeon argued at the time, "Even after reviewing related recordings, there is no such content at all," and claimed, "Choi's SNS post is a political manipulation attempting to sway public opinion and a character assassination against former reporter Lee." It is reported that after about nine months of investigation, the prosecution referred Choi to trial on the relevant charges.

Meanwhile, Choi is currently on trial for issuing a false internship certificate for the son of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for the 28th. Separately, Choi is also on trial for violating the Public Official Election Act by making statements implying "he actually did the internship" regarding allegations of falsifying an internship activity confirmation for Cho's son during the April 15 general election campaign last year.