'Handonghun Cheongdamdong Drinking Party Allegation' Cellist Travel Ban... Accused of Spreading False Information

"President Yoon and Han Dong-hoon Drinking with Lawyers" Claim
Confession of "It Was a Lie" After Kim Eui-gyeom's Tip Disclosure

The cellist who triggered the so-called 'Cheongdam-dong drinking party suspicion,' where former People Power Party Emergency Committee Chairman Han Dong-hoon allegedly had a drinking party with President Yoon Seok-yeol and lawyers in Cheongdam-dong during his tenure as Minister of Justice, has been subjected to a travel ban.

On the 11th, the police announced that the Seoul Seocho Police Station imposed a travel ban on cellist A on March 27 on charges of spreading false information. A is the person who first conveyed the 'Cheongdam-dong drinking party' suspicion to the whistleblower. The suspicion alleges that on July 19, 2022, at a high-end bar in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, President Yoon Seok-yeol and then Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon drank until dawn with about 30 Kim & Chang lawyers and Lee Se-chang, former acting president of the Federation of Korean Associations. Later, this suspicion became public on October 24, 2022, during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s audit of the Ministry of Justice, when Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Eui-gyeom played a recorded phone call received from the whistleblower. The whistleblower was A’s ex-boyfriend, who recorded a private phone conversation.

Photo by Mun Ho-nam, Seocho Police Station archive. / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

At the time, former Chairman Han strongly denied the suspicion, saying, "If I were at that place (Cheongdam-dong drinking party) or within 1 km nearby, I would admit it all," and asked, "What would you do, Congressman (Kim Eui-gyeom)?" He later sued lawmaker Kim and the media outlet representatives. Kim and others are under investigation by the prosecution for defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act. Additionally, Han filed a 1 billion won damages claim against Kim and others.

As the controversy grew, A later testified during police investigation that he lied to deceive his ex-boyfriend, and the suspicion ended as a misunderstanding. However, later, Kang Jin-gu and others from the YouTube media outlet 'Citizen Media The TamSa (hereafter 'The TamSa,' now Open Sympathy TV) raised the Cheongdam-dong drinking party suspicion again based on a new recording containing A’s statements. It is reported that A’s status has changed from a witness to a suspect in the ongoing police investigation.

Meanwhile, Lee, the operator of the music cafe identified as the venue of the Cheongdam-dong drinking party, also filed a lawsuit against Kang Jin-gu and others. Lee filed a lawsuit demanding the deletion of the video and 550 million won in damages after The TamSa uploaded a video containing the phone conversation on its YouTube channel.