Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party, attending a trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The first trial of Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party, who was indicted on charges of spreading false information about former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae on social networking services (SNS) in connection with the 'Channel A coercion attempt' case, will be held on the 9th.
Judge Kim Tae-gyun of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 16 will conduct the first hearing of Choi, who was indicted on charges of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., on the morning of the same day.
On April 3 last year, Choi posted a message titled "Summary of Channel A reporter's statements in letters and transcripts" on his Facebook.
In the post, Choi claimed, "Former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae told former Value Invest Korea (VIK) CEO Lee Cheol, 'Just close your eyes and say you handed money to Yoo Si-min,' and 'We will search Yoo Si-min's house and family, as well as the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, where Yoo Si-min serves as chairman.'"
However, the full letter sent by Lee to former CEO Lee, who is currently incarcerated, was later revealed, and such content was not confirmed.
The Action Alliance for Establishing the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) stated, "There is no such content in the disclosed transcripts. This is a political operation attempting to manipulate public opinion and a character assassination against former reporter Lee Dong-jae," and reported Choi to the prosecution.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Criminal Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Byun Pil-geon), which investigated the case, indicted Choi without detention on January 27 on charges of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.
Shortly after the prosecution indicted Choi, former reporter Lee filed a lawsuit against Choi demanding the publication of a correction and 50 million KRW in damages for illegal acts.
At that time, Lee's side pointed out, "Representative Choi Kang-wook described in detail content that reporter Lee Dong-jae 'never mentioned,' as if he had listened to or seen the transcripts, and despite the content being 'a lie that destroys the reporter's character,' he still maintains the post."
They added, "Reporter Lee Dong-jae had refrained from legal action so far, but considering ▲the clear illegality to the extent that the prosecution indicted for defamation ▲the false content in the transcripts has been accurately proven, yet there has been avoidance of clear mention and no apology ▲the false content has been re-quoted or widely spread on the internet due to 'Representative Choi Kang-wook's post,' it became inevitable to take legal measures."
Furthermore, Lee's side stated, "Especially, as a politician and public figure, avoiding direct mention of his false post while talking about prosecutorial reform is not a responsible attitude," and "Unless Representative Choi clearly reveals whether he fabricated the 'absurd transcript content' himself, or if there is a source that provided false information, and with whom and for what purpose the false exposure was planned, and apologizes, legal action will continue."
Separately from this case, Choi is awaiting an appeal trial after being sentenced to 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation in the first trial for allegedly writing a false internship certificate for former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's son while working as a lawyer at the law firm Cheongmaek in October 2017.
He was also additionally indicted for falsely claiming that the internship certificate for Cho's son was legitimately issued during last year's general election campaign, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for the 13th.
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