The 'Cheongong Suspicion' Raised by Kim Eo-jun and Kim Jong-dae... Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Investigates the Accusation Case

Seoul Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Investigation Division Assignment
Former Lawmaker Kim: "Cheonggong Visited Official Residence Candidate Sites"
Presidential Office: "Fake News Undermines Democracy"
Complaint Filed with Police

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency will directly investigate the case in which broadcaster Kim Eo-jun and former Justice Party lawmaker Kim Jong-dae were accused of involvement by the presidential office in the process of selecting the presidential residence, with the fortune teller 'Cheongong' allegedly involved. Photo by TBS 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' YouTube channel capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency will directly investigate the case in which the Presidential Office filed a complaint against broadcaster Kim Eo-jun and former Justice Party lawmaker Kim Jong-dae, who raised suspicions that the fortune teller ‘Cheongong’ was involved in the process of selecting the presidential residence.

On the 7th, the Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that it had been assigned the case against Kim and former lawmaker Kim, who are accused of violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (defamation by spreading false information).

Former lawmaker Kim claimed in an interview on the TBS radio program , hosted by Kim on the 5th, that he heard from a senior Ministry of National Defense official that Cheongong toured the Army Chief of Staff’s official residence for about an hour last March. At that time, the Army Chief of Staff’s residence was a strong candidate for the presidential residence, but according to former lawmaker Kim, the atmosphere changed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs minister’s residence starting in April, right after Cheongong’s visit. On the same day, former lawmaker Kim also said on a YouTube broadcast that Kim Yong-hyun, the current head of the Security Office who previously led the task force for relocating the Presidential Office, toured the Army Chief of Staff’s residence together with Cheongong.

In response, the Presidential Office submitted a complaint to the police against former lawmaker Kim on the same afternoon, stating that “we cannot tolerate the damage to democracy caused by fabricating fake news that imposes a shamanistic frame without objective evidence and creates something out of nothing.” The Presidential Office views Kim as having spread former lawmaker Kim’s claims through the broadcast interview.

Former lawmaker Kim is reported to have stated regarding the complaint that he “will consider legal review with the possibility of disputing the truth in court.”