Prosecutors Raid Opposition Aide, Reporter, and National Assembly Policy Researcher... Investigation into Alleged 'Fabricated Interview' Report (Comprehensive)

On the 11th, the prosecution investigating allegations of false reporting related to the Daejang-dong incident ahead of the last presidential election detected additional signs of false reporting and launched a forced investigation. It appears they are tracking the circumstances of another report following the 'Kim Man-bae and Shin Hak-rim interview' aired three days before the election on Newstapa, and the so-called 'Yoon Seok-yeol coffee' article reported two weeks earlier on JTBC.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Special Investigation Team on the 'Presidential Election Interference and Public Opinion Manipulation Case' (led by Kang Baek-shin, Head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1) conducted searches on four locations, including the National Assembly office and residence of Choi, an aide to Kim Byung-wook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea. The office of the media company Report Act and the residence of reporter Heo Jae-hyun, who operates it, were also included in the search targets. In the afternoon, they also searched the office of Kim, a researcher at the Democratic Party's National Assembly Policy Research Institute.

Prosecutor's flag in front of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Photo by Yonhap News

The prosecution has booked Choi and Heo on charges of defaming President Yoon (violation of the Information and Communications Network Act). Once the analysis of the seized materials is complete, the prosecution plans to summon Choi and Heo as suspects for questioning.

Since the investigation into the false interview allegations began in earnest, Choi is the first sitting aide to be booked. Choi is known to have served as the practical team leader when Representative Kim chaired the 'Special Committee for the Truth Investigation of Yoon Seok-yeol Concealment Investigation and the 5 Billion Club' during the presidential election. Representative Kim is a member of the '7-person group,' a close circle of Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.

The prosecution is investigating on the grounds that Choi and Heo colluded to publish false reports supporting the claim that "President Yoon Seok-yeol deliberately overlooked Jo Woo-hyung, a 'Daejang-dong broker,' while investigating the Busan Savings Bank case as head of the Criminal Investigation Division 2 at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office" on March 1 of last year, just before the presidential election.

At that time, Heo reported having secured a recording of a conversation between former head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Investigation Division, Choi Jae-kyung, and Lee, a cousin of Jo. In the article, Heo wrote, "When Lee said, 'Before Vice Chairman Kim was arrested, Jo Woo-hyung was Chairman Kim's errand boy, honestly,' former head Choi responded, 'Yoon Seok-yeol said that.' Then Lee, seemingly surprised, replied, 'Yoon Seok-yeol said that? Jo Woo-hyung hiring lawyer Park Young-soo was a masterstroke.'"

The main suspicion was that since former head Choi was in a supervisory position over Yoon, who was the lead prosecutor at the time, he likely relayed investigation details he received from President Yoon to a Busan Savings Bank official much later. However, the article did not include information about the time or place of the conversation.

Shortly after the related investigation intensified, on September 7, Heo reintroduced the article on his Facebook account, claiming, "If the Kim Man-bae and Shin Hak-rim interview is false, then what about what Choi Jae-kyung said? I personally obtained and possess this recording."

However, the prosecution is understood to have determined that the reported conversation between former head Choi and Lee was false. The prosecution suspects that Choi and Heo knowingly published this false report just eight days before the election with the intent to defame President Yoon, who was a leading presidential candidate.

In response, reporter Heo strongly opposed the investigation, calling it a "political conspiracy to prevent further reporting." At the search site, Heo told reporters, "I don't even know Choi. The report was possible because the person in the recording was Choi Jae-kyung." He explained, "I requested a rebuttal from Choi Jae-kyung, but received no response, so I published the report." He added, "If I had published distorted or fabricated reports, I would naturally take responsibility as a journalist."

When asked how he verified that the person in the recording was former head Choi Jae-kyung, he said, "I went through a verification process based on several highly reliable methods I have accumulated. Since that alone was insufficient, I requested a rebuttal. If a rebuttal had come, I would have conducted additional reporting or corrected any errors, but there was no response," he emphasized.