Reporter of 'Yoon Investigation End Report' Applies to Investigation Review Committee "Not Within Prosecutor's Direct Investigation Scope"

Internet media reporter Heo Jae-hyun of Report Act, who is under prosecution for defamation of President Yoon Seok-yeol, the then People Power Party candidate, by reporting false information regarding allegations of covering up the investigation into the Busan Savings Bank illegal loan case during the last presidential election, requested the convening of the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee (Investigation Deliberation Committee) on the 13th.

Reporter Heo Jae-hyun (left) of the internet media outlet Report Act, who is accused of reporting false information related to the "Busan Savings Bank investigation cover-up suspicion" involving President Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party candidate in the last presidential election, is answering questions from the press on the 13th in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu before submitting the application for convening the Prosecutor Investigation Deliberation Committee.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the same day, Heo submitted an application for the convening of the Investigation Deliberation Committee to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, stating, "I want to ask whether the defamation investigation against President Yoon falls within the scope of direct investigation by the prosecution."

The Investigation Deliberation Committee is an organization that deliberates on whether the continuation of prosecution investigations, prosecution or non-prosecution, and the request for arrest warrants are justified in cases where national suspicions are raised or social controversies arise. When an application for convening the Investigation Deliberation Committee is received, a preliminary deliberation committee first discusses and decides whether to convene it.

Heo's side holds the position that the prosecution's behavior of linking the defamation case against President Yoon to the 'Daejang-dong development corruption' case is illegal. The prosecution conducted a search and seizure of Heo's residence and office on the 11th of last month, suspecting that he conspired with Democratic Party officials and made the related report.

Choi Yong-moon, Heo's lawyer, said, "According to the Supreme Court's standards for search and seizure, related crimes are those that have objective and personal relevance to the alleged crime subject to search and seizure, but in this case, there is no such relevance," adding, "There is no content in the search and seizure allegations that Heo conspired with suspects in the Daejang-dong corruption case."

Heo said, "This is a political conspiracy-like investigation carried out to identify where the first tip-off to the media regarding the Busan Savings Bank poor investigation suspicion case came from," and requested the prosecution to "at least suspend all investigations until the Investigation Deliberation Committee's decision is made."

On the other hand, the prosecution argues that the investigation falls within the scope of direct investigation. The Prosecutors' Office Act stipulates that "investigations may be initiated for corruption crimes, economic crimes, and crimes directly related to them." The Daejang-dong development corruption case is a corruption crime, and the false report and defamation case against President Yoon are related to it, so the prosecution believes it can conduct a direct investigation.

Earlier, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office emphasized, "We were already conducting an investigation into the corruption crime of Daejang-dong, and during that process, we confirmed the allegations of fake news about the suspension of the Daejang-dong investigation involving Mr. Kim and others, and thus legitimately initiated the investigation."