Last year, three days before the presidential election on March 6, the prosecution's forced investigation targeting the alleged false interview between 'Kim Man-bae and Shin Hak-rim' marked one month. It is known that a significant amount of time was recently spent analyzing seized materials, and attention is focused on whether the prosecution will take full-scale action by summoning key figures after the Chuseok holiday.
According to the legal community on that day, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's special investigation team for the 'Presidential Election Interference Public Opinion Manipulation Case' (led by Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) has been dedicating efforts to digital forensic analysis of materials seized from locations related to former Press Union Chairman Shin Hak-rim, major shareholder Kim Man-bae of Hwacheon Daeyu, and the media outlets NewsTapa and JTBC that reported the interview.
Earlier, the prosecution launched a forced investigation by raiding former Chairman Shin's residence and office on the 1st of last month. On the 6th, they raided Kim Man-bae's premises, and on the 14th, they searched the headquarters of NewsTapa and JTBC, showing a momentum to accelerate the investigation. However, the digital forensic work took longer than expected due to procedural issues requiring the presence of related parties during the process. It is also said that the volume of materials the prosecution needed to verify regarding the allegations was vast.
Based on the analysis of the seized materials, the legal community expects the prosecution to move to secure the custody of key figures such as former Chairman Shin after the Chuseok holiday. Although the prosecution has summoned and interrogated former Chairman Shin and others, they have not yet requested arrest warrants. Former Chairman Shin was questioned by the prosecution for 14 hours on the 8th of last month. He denied all allegations centered around him, including charges of receiving hundreds of millions of won in exchange for the false interview. Additionally, the publishing company’s representative and auditor who bound former Chairman Shin’s book, as well as Lee Kang-gil, former CEO of C7 and the initial developer of Daejang-dong, were recently summoned and investigated.
There is also keen interest in whether the prosecution’s investigation will extend to determining if there was an organized 'presidential election interference.' The prosecution is investigating the possibility of a behind-the-scenes force involved in the process where Kim, a private developer in Daejang-dong, conducted a false interview with former Press Union Chairman Shin, who was a senior advisor at NewsTapa on September 15, 2021. The interview falsely claimed that President Yoon Seok-yeol, while at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Investigation Department, covered up the Jo Woo-hyung case through former special prosecutor Park Young-soo. It is also reported that the prosecution views this interview as damaging to President Yoon Seok-yeol’s reputation. The payment of 165 million won to Mr. Shin as compensation five days after the interview, on September 20, is also under investigation by the prosecution.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
