Seoul's Voice: "I Regret Giving the Recording to MBC... Everyone Gets Drawn In by Kim Gun-hee's Eloquence"

Expressing Disappointment in MBC for Broadcasting Without Including Statements from Cho Kuk and Jung Kyung-shim
"Full Transcript to Be Released Later on YouTube"

On the afternoon of the 16th, the MBC program "Straight," which covers the '7-hour phone call' content of Kim Geon-hee, spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, is being broadcast on the electronic billboard at the MBC building in Sangam-dong, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Baek Eun-jong, the representative of the YouTube media outlet 'Seoul's Voice,' who leaked the recorded phone conversations between Kim Gun-hee, spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, to MBC, stated, "I was frustrated that MBC omitted important parts. There were many disappointing aspects."

Earlier on the 16th, MBC's investigative program 'Straight' revealed parts of the transcripts of 53 phone calls exchanged between reporter Lee Myung-soo of Seoul's Voice and Kim from July to December last year.

Regarding this, on the 17th, Baek said on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "Looking at the parts of the transcripts that MBC broadcasted, they omitted important sections. I was quite disappointed, wondering whether it was due to court rulings or some other intention. I even thought maybe I shouldn't have given it to MBC," he said.

Baek continued, "I was so frustrated that I posted the parts MBC left out on our website (Seoul's Voice). From the perspective of the public's right to know, we plan to release the truth as it was intended to be conveyed."

He pointed out Kim's remarks related to former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk as a part that was disappointing because it was not properly aired. Baek said, "'If former Minister Cho or Jung Kyung-shim had stayed quiet, we wouldn't have tried to arrest them,' is a truly shocking statement from Kim. Was Kim the Prosecutor General? Saying 'we didn't try to arrest them' implies that then-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol consulted with Kim Gun-hee or indicated such intentions to her, which led Kim to make such remarks," he criticized.

Baek also praised Kim's rhetorical skills. He said, "When you talk with her, anyone would inevitably be drawn in. Watching that, I also had the illusion that everything Kim Gun-hee said was the absolute truth."

When the host asked, "There are evaluations that MBC's report actually clarified suspicions about Kim's private life," Baek responded, "That is what I am concerned about. There was a kind of magic that made people mistakenly believe she was telling the truth."