Prosecutors Raid 3 Former Media Executives Involved in Financial Transactions with Kim Man-bae to Investigate Quid Pro Quo Relationship (Comprehensive)

The prosecution has launched a forced investigation into former media executives who conducted large financial transactions with Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) conducted a search and seizure at the residences of three former media executives on the 18th on charges including breach of trust and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act for receiving large sums of money from Kim.

Major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, Kim Man-bae. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

A prosecution official stated, "Based on the materials secured through this search and seizure, we plan to conduct necessary investigations to clarify the facts of the case, including the circumstances of the receipt of money and goods, whether there was any solicitation, the quid pro quo relationship, and the specific use of funds."

The official added, "The investigation team is reviewing the overall corruption allegations raised during the Daejang-dong development process and is proceeding with necessary investigations sequentially."

The targets of the prosecution's search and seizure today were former executives of Hankyoreh Newspaper, Hankook Ilbo, and JoongAng Ilbo, who were previously embroiled in controversy over illicit financial transactions with Kim.

Former Hankyoreh Newspaper executive A received a total of 900 million KRW (including 10 million KRW in advance interest) in five installments by check from Kim between 2019 and 2020 to pay for apartment pre-sale payments.

A explained to the company that he "borrowed 600 million KRW from Kim and repaid 200 million KRW," but through the prosecution's financial tracking, an additional 300 million KRW transaction was revealed.

Former Hankook Ilbo executive B borrowed 100 million KRW from Kim in May 2020 to prepare funds for purchasing a house. It is known that B paid interest to Kim after the Daejang-dong allegations were reported.

Former JoongAng Ilbo executive C lent 80 million KRW to Kim in 2018 and received 90 million KRW including interest about seven months later. In 2020, C borrowed 100 million KRW from Kim, resulting in a total transaction of 190 million KRW between them.

All these media figures maintain that they only engaged in personal financial transactions with Kim, who is also a former journalist.

However, the prosecution is focusing on the fact that their financial dealings with Kim began in March 2019, when private developers in Daejang-dong started receiving dividends. The prosecution suspects that Kim began a "media lobbying" effort well before the media started actively reporting on the Daejang-dong allegations in September 2021, aiming to cover up issues arising during the Daejang-dong project and foster favorable public opinion.

A prosecution official said, "It appears that Kim provided various sums of money and goods to journalists close to him to respond to problems in the Daejang-dong project," adding, "We will investigate whether the money and goods were provided out of necessity to resolve his issues or were purely personal loans based on friendship."

He continued, "We are not drawing definitive conclusions and proceeding with the investigation; the search and seizure were conducted today to clarify the facts due to raised suspicions," and "We plan to carefully review the secured materials to verify whether there was a quid pro quo relationship based on solicitation."

However, the official drew a clear line, stating that this investigation is separate from the defamation allegations against President Yoon Seok-yeol, which are currently being investigated by the 'Special Investigation Team on Election Interference and Public Opinion Manipulation.'

Regarding the reason for conducting the search and seizure more than a year after the allegations surfaced, a prosecution official explained, "We have been continuously reviewing the raised suspicions, and during the process of confirming specific incriminating circumstances, we judged that collecting objective evidence through search and seizure was necessary, so we obtained a warrant from the court and carried out the search and seizure."