Former Press Union Chairman Shin Hak-rim, who is accused of orchestrating a ‘false interview’ with Hwacheon Daeyu major shareholder Kim Man-bae and having it reported through Newstapa, where he was a professional committee member just before the presidential election, appeared at the prosecution office on the 7th.
Former Press Union Chairman Shin Hak-rim is heading to the interrogation room at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu on the morning of the 7th for questioning. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The prosecution is expanding its investigation on the grounds that Kim, in addition to Shin, also pressured former Hwacheon Daeyu CEO Lee Sung-moon, Nam Wook (Cheonhwa Dongin No. 4), Jo Woo-hyung (Cheonhwa Dongin No. 6), and others involved in the Daejang-dong case between September and October 2021 to conduct ‘false interviews’ asserting that Lee Jae-myung, the opposition presidential candidate and Democratic Party leader, was unrelated to the Daejang-dong corruption scandal.
Meanwhile, Kim, who was released early in the morning on the same day due to the expiration of his detention period, completely denied the related allegations. Newstapa, which reported the controversial interview, decided to release the entire original audio recording of the conversation between the two parties without any edits in the afternoon, signaling a forthcoming confrontation with the prosecution.
The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) has been investigating Shin since the morning as a suspect on charges of breach of trust and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.
The prosecution believes that in September 2021, Shin received 165 million KRW along with a request to report the false interview claiming that Kim and then People Power Party candidate Yoon Seok-youl had covered up the Busan Savings Bank investigation, just before the presidential election.
The prosecution is expected to focus its questioning on Shin regarding the circumstances under which he received the large sum of money under the pretext of book payments and why the report was made through Newstapa just before the election after several months had passed.
During Kim’s pre-arrest interrogation the day before, the prosecution disclosed detailed circumstances suggesting that Kim had pressured Shin to conduct the false interview. These include the fact that Kim disguised the payment for the interview by pretending to have purchased three books from Shin, even drafting a book sales contract dated March 1, 2021, about six months before the interview date, and that in October 2021, Kim instructed Nam and Jo, among others, to conduct false interviews with reporters, saying, “We and Lee Jae-myung are in the same boat.”
Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, was released on the morning of the 7th after the expiration of his detention period and is answering questions from the press outside Seoul Detention Center. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The Newstapa report at the time included not only the claim that Yoon Seok-youl, then the People Power Party presidential candidate, had covered up the Busan Savings Bank case but also that Lee Jae-myung, then the Democratic Party presidential candidate, had not given special favors to private developers in Daejang-dong during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam but rather imposed various disadvantages. The prosecution views this as clear evidence that Kim and Shin had a definite intention to influence the election through the interviews and reports.
Kim, who was released from Seoul Detention Center early in the morning after the additional arrest warrant requested by the prosecution was dismissed, denied the false interview allegations immediately upon release, stating, “It is not true.” He also claimed that the 165 million KRW suspected by the prosecution to have been given to Shin as payment for the false interview was, as Shin had previously asserted, given as payment for books. Furthermore, he denied all allegations surrounding him, saying he was not capable enough to change the course of the presidential election.
Newstapa announced that it would release the relevant audio file without any edits at 5 p.m. on the same day. With Kim, the key figure in the case, released, the prosecution’s investigation is expected to proceed more swiftly. Given the possibility that the released Kim might coordinate statements with Shin and others, the prosecution is likely to move to secure the custody of both Shin and Kim.
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