Kim Eui-gyeom Admits "There Were Gaps in the Reporting Process"... "70% Chance of Lee Jae-myung's Warrant Being Dismissed"

Judge from class of '93 mistakenly thought to be from class of '92 like Han Dong-hoon
"Believed because of same high school graduation year in legal circles"

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who claimed during an interview on a radio broadcast that "the prosecution selected a judge who is a university classmate of Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon as the judge in charge of warrants" in relation to the approval of the arrest warrant motion for Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, admitted his mistake by saying, "There seems to have been a 'gap' in my reporting process."

This statement came after the Ministry of Justice announced on the 23rd that Kim's claim that "Minister Han and the judge in charge of Lee's warrant are classmates from Seoul National University Law School, class of '92" was clearly false and warned of legal action.

A post by Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, on his Facebook on the 23rd. Photo by Kim Eui-gyeom.

That afternoon, Kim posted on his Facebook under the title [Probability of Lee Jae-myung's Warrant Dismissal 70%!], admitting there was an error in his claim.

He wrote, "Minister Han Dong-hoon is intimidating me again," and added, "I informed reporters that necessary measures will be taken against the spread of 'fake news' regarding what I said yesterday on KBS 'Joo Jin-woo Live'."

Introducing his statement from the previous day’s broadcast, he said, "Please judge whether this is truly an 'intention to unduly influence the trial'."

Kim argued, "Saying 'the judge was selected considering that he is a classmate of Minister Han Dong-hoon' (Han's interpretation) and 'a favorable judge was selected, and coincidentally, he is a classmate of Minister Han Dong-hoon' (Kim's statement) have completely different meanings."

However, he admitted that the part of his statement claiming that the judge in charge of the arrest warrants for Minister Han and Leader Lee is a university classmate was incorrect.

He said, "There seems to have been a 'gap' in my reporting process," and clarified, "The judge in charge of warrants is from the class of '93, but I mistakenly thought he was from the same class of '92 as Minister Han."

He explained that he heard this information from a legal professional who graduated from Seoul National University Law School in the class of '92, and after checking the legal professional directory, since both were born in 1973 and graduated high school in 1992, he had no reason to doubt it.

Kim also stated, "Minister Han will surely file a lawsuit again, so I will submit my 'reporting notes' in court."

Meanwhile, Kim noted that seeing Minister Han's particular attention toward him suggests that Minister Han is quite nervous, saying, "I said on the broadcast that the probability of Lee Jae-myung's warrant dismissal is 50:50. But seeing Minister Han's nervousness, I revise the probability to 'dismissal 70, issuance 30'."

At the bottom of the post, Kim added, "The photo below shows me visiting Leader Lee Jae-myung yesterday to dissuade him from fasting and leaving," and posted a photo of himself leaving the hospital after visiting Lee with Democratic Party officials the previous day.

Kim appeared on KBS 'Joo Jin-woo Live' the previous day and made related remarks during an interview about the approval of the arrest warrant motion for Leader Lee.

When host Joo Jin-woo said, "(Leader Lee) has no risk of fleeing," Kim responded, "However, those who think the warrant will still be issued argue first that the prosecution has now selected the judge in charge of warrants. Originally, the warrant could have been requested in Suwon or Seoul, but they took the Suwon one and attached it to Seoul."

When the host said, "It was done at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office," Kim said, "So they thought Suwon was disadvantageous. There are three judges in charge of warrants in Seoul, and they rotate once a week in a cycle. They chose the judge they thought was most favorable to themselves. And that chosen judge happens to be a classmate of Minister Han Dong-hoon from Seoul National University Law School, class of '92. Thirdly, the Democratic Party agreed, so the arrest warrant motion was approved. These are the arguments of those who think the warrant will be issued."

In essence, Kim's statement implied that the prosecution selected the judge they thought most favorable among the three warrant judges at the Seoul Central District Court, and that judge is a university classmate of Minister Han.

The Ministry of Justice stated that morning, "Yesterday, Representative Kim Eui-gyeom said on KBS 'Joo Jin-woo Live' that the judge in charge of the arrest warrant for Representative Lee Jae-myung was selected by the prosecution considering that he is a classmate of Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon from Seoul National University Law School, class of '92,' but this is clearly false," adding, "Minister Han and the judge mentioned by Kim are not university classmates and have no acquaintance."

They continued, "Kim, who has repeatedly spread fake news without any apology or corrective action, will face necessary measures for spreading fake news on public broadcasting with the intention to unduly influence the trial this time."

The judge assigned to review Lee's arrest warrant this time is Yoo Chang-hoon, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court.

Judge Yoo graduated from Daejeon High School in 1992 but entered Seoul National University’s Department of Public Law in 1993. He passed the 39th Judicial Examination in 1997 and completed the 29th Judicial Research and Training Institute.

On the other hand, Minister Han graduated from Seoul Hyundai High School and entered Seoul National University Law School in 1992. He passed the 37th Judicial Examination in 1995 and completed the 27th Judicial Research and Training Institute.

Since their admission years to Seoul National University Law School differ and their judicial training completion years do not overlap, it can be concluded that they had no connection.

Kim had previously raised the so-called 'Cheongdam-dong drinking party' allegations and is currently facing a criminal complaint and a civil lawsuit demanding 1 billion KRW in damages from Minister Han.

Kim’s quick admission of error in his statement is interpreted as a move to present the fact that he admitted the mistake promptly as a favorable circumstance for himself if Minister Han proceeds with legal action. It also appears to be influenced by the judgment that it could adversely affect ongoing investigations or trials.