Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Ahn Min-seok, who claimed that Choi Seo-won's (formerly Choi Soon-sil) hidden assets in Germany amounted to trillions of won, has been brought to trial on charges of defamation for spreading false information.
The Criminal Division 1 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Oh Jong-ryeol) indicted Ahn on the 2nd without detention on charges including violation of the Information and Communications Network Act (defamation).
On September 8th, Ahn Min-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking during the Education, Social, and Cultural Questions to the Government session held at the National Assembly plenary session. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
According to the prosecution, since 2016, Ahn appeared on various broadcasting media such as radio and stated unverified facts that damaged Choi's reputation, including "Choi Soon-sil's hidden assets in Germany amount to trillions of won, and there are hundreds of German paper companies used for money laundering confirmed by the German prosecutors," "Choi Soon-sil met with the chairman of a foreign defense company and pushed through weapons contracts," and "Money from domestic company A deposited in a Swiss secret account is related to Choi Soon-sil."
The prosecution found through investigation that Ahn made such statements without actually verifying the facts with the German prosecutors or foreign defense companies.
The police, who launched an investigation in September 2019 following Choi's accusation, judged that some of Ahn's statements were false and sent the case to the prosecution last August with a recommendation for indictment. They also requested cooperation from German investigative authorities regarding the statements related to Germany, confirmed the facts, and sent additional charges last May.
A prosecution official said, "We will ensure that offenders who damage others' reputations by spreading false information receive punishment commensurate with their crimes."
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