On the 27th, a decision will be made on whether to hold a Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee meeting requested by reporter Heo Jae-hyun of Report Act, who is accused of defaming President Yoon Seok-yeol during the last presidential election period.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office will hold a referral deliberation committee meeting from the morning to review reporter Heo's request for convening the committee. Fifteen citizen prosecutors will attend, hear both Heo's and the prosecution's positions, and decide by majority vote whether to refer Heo's request to the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee.
Regarding the prosecution's investigation into the 'false reporting,' reporter Heo and the prosecution have taken opposing stances and are in a tense standoff. On the 13th, Heo requested the convening of the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, arguing that "a simple defamation case does not fall within the scope of direct investigation by the prosecution." On the other hand, the prosecution stated, "While investigating the Daejang-dong development corruption case, we are uncovering the full extent of the related false reporting suspicions," and added, "We have conducted necessary investigations according to law and principles and confirmed the substantive truth."
Legal circles predict that the referral deliberation committee meeting will be a turning point for the prosecution's investigation into the media's 'false reporting' allegations during the presidential election. If the request passes the referral deliberation committee and the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee is convened, the decision made there could determine the direction of the prosecution's investigation. The Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee is a body that reviews whether the continuation of prosecution investigations, indictments or non-indictments, and requests for arrest warrants are justified in cases where public suspicion is raised or social controversy exists. Although the decisions made there are only advisory and not binding, the chief prosecutor in charge of the case must respect them.
If the referral deliberation committee decides not to convene the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee, the prosecution's investigation may gain legitimacy and accelerate. The special investigation team for the 'Presidential Election Interference Public Opinion Manipulation Case' at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) is reportedly planning to summon and investigate reporters, including Heo, who have been booked on charges of defaming President Yoon. The investigation team began intensifying the probe into the 'false interview' suspicions involving Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, and Shin Hak-rim, former chairman of the Korean Federation of Media Workers' Unions, on September 1. They also launched a forced investigation into multiple media outlets that reported on allegations of 'covering up the illegal loan case of Busan Savings Bank' involving Yoon Seok-yeol, then the People Power Party's presidential candidate during the election. In this regard, on September 14, they conducted raids on the residences of JTBC and Newstapa reporters, and on the 26th of last month, on current and former reporters of Kyunghyang Shinmun and Newsbus.
Subsequently, delays in digital forensic work on the seized materials caused variables in the investigation, preventing summons and interrogations of reporters and some related parties. It was only on the 22nd that reporter A from Kyunghyang Shinmun, whose digital forensic work had been completed, was summoned and questioned. The prosecution suspects that Kyunghyang Shinmun distorted the content in its October 21, 2021 article, which was based on an interview with Lee Kang-gil, an early developer of Daejang-dong, reporting that "(the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Central Investigation Department) confirmed that Mr. B (Jo Woo-hyung), who arranged the loan, received 1.03 billion won as a reward but took no subsequent action." Reporter A was reportedly the head of the legal team at the time the article was published.
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