Prosecutors Decide Not to Appeal Former Reporter Dongjae Lee's Case of 'Attempted Coercion of a Source'... Effectively Confirming Innocence

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The acquittal of former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae, who was indicted on charges of threatening a source to force them to report corruption involving former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Yoo Si-min and others, has been virtually confirmed.

According to the legal community on the 25th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office recently held a Public Prosecution Review Committee meeting and decided not to appeal against former reporter Lee, who was acquitted in the second trial, and his accomplice, junior reporter Baek, who was also indicted. Although Jeong Jin-woong, a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute who indicted the two, advocated for an appeal, the prosecutor in charge of the trial reportedly expressed an opinion not to appeal.

Former Channel A reporter Dongjae Lee [Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulations, if the opinions of the prosecuting prosecutor and the trial prosecutor differ regarding an appeal, a Public Prosecution Review Committee is convened to decide on the matter. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office held the committee meeting in accordance with this regulation and made a decision. If the deadline of midnight on the 26th passes without an appeal from either side, the acquittal of former reporter Lee and others will be finalized.

Former reporter Lee and others were indicted in August 2020 on charges of attempted coercion for threatening former Value Invest Korea (VIK) CEO Lee Cheol to disclose corruption information about ruling party figures at the time.

The Seoul Central District Court's 9th Criminal Appeals Division (Presiding Judge Yang Kyung-seung) on the 19th ruled, "For a threat to be established, it must be objectively assessed that the defendants had influence over the prosecution or could arbitrarily control it," and added, "It is difficult to see that a third party would actually evaluate it as such," thereby acquitting them again as in the first trial.

Thus, about 2 years and 10 months after MBC raised suspicions on March 31, 2020, this case is expected to conclude with an acquittal. The case had expanded into allegations that Han Dong-hoon, then the chief prosecutor and now Minister of Justice, conspired with former reporter Lee, and was also referred to as the "Prosecutor-Media Collusion" case.