Lee Jung-geun sues prosecutor and JTBC reporter over 'money envelope recording disclosure report'

Lee Jeong-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party and a key figure in the money envelope allegations at the Democratic Party convention, has filed a lawsuit against a prosecutor and JTBC reporters regarding the broadcast of his phone call recordings.

Lee Jeong-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Korea [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 28th, the law firm The Firm announced that Lee Jeong-geun submitted a complaint to the Seocho Police Station in Seoul against an unidentified prosecutor from the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, as well as the JTBC news director and reporters. The unidentified prosecutor is charged with breach of official secrecy, and the reporters are charged with violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

In a press release, The Firm stated, "Last August, the prosecution collected and preserved as evidence more than 30,000 call recording files stored on four mobile phones of former Deputy Secretary-General Lee, which were seized through a search and voluntary submission," adding, "An unidentified prosecutor arbitrarily provided some of these recordings, which are official secrets, to JTBC reporters, allowing them to be publicly disclosed."

Furthermore, they added, "Among the vast number of files, only the prosecution can realistically identify specific files," and "It is also impossible for JTBC to have disclosed specific files related to the money envelope issue without receiving them from the prosecutor."

The Firm stated that the disclosure of the recordings constitutes the public announcement of an accused's facts, and that JTBC, which reported on them, also leaked personal information, which is the reason for the lawsuit.