Prosecutors Investigate Kim Yong-jin, NewsTapa CEO, for Defamation Charges for 8 Hours

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The prosecution investigated Kim Yong-jin, CEO of Newstapa, for about eight hours amid suspicions that President Yoon Seok-yeol's reputation was damaged by false reports during the last presidential election period.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Special Investigation Team on 'Election Interference and Public Opinion Manipulation' (led by Lee Jun-dong, Head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1) questioned Kim from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the 5th regarding defamation charges under the Information and Communications Network Act.

The prosecution reportedly questioned Kim about the circumstances under which Newstapa reported on March 6, 2022, an interview with private investor Kim Man-bae of the Daejang-dong development and Shin Hak-rim, former chairman of the Media Union. However, Kim is said to have exercised his right to remain silent during the questioning and did not submit a written statement separately.

The prosecution believes that on September 15, 2021, Kim Man-bae conducted a false interview with Shin, who was then a Newstapa senior advisor, claiming that "President Yoon covered up the Jo Woo-hyung case while investigating the Busan Savings Bank case at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Central Investigation Department," and that on September 20 of the same year, Kim gave Shin 165 million won as compensation.

The interview was broadcast through Newstapa on March 6, 2022, three days before the presidential election, and the prosecution suspects that Kim Yong-jin was involved in the report despite knowing the interview was false.

The prosecution also detected circumstances suggesting that Kim was aware of the money transaction between Shin and Kim about eight months before the investigation began, in January of last year.

On January 9 of last year, after receiving an inquiry call from a reporter asking whether Shin had received money from Kim as compensation for the false interview, Shin informed Kim Yong-jin of this fact and reportedly said, "Although things have come to this, prioritize the organization."

Upon appearing before the prosecution, Kim criticized, saying, "The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division, the prosecution's elite unit, is mobilizing more than ten prosecutors to investigate a Newstapa report that came out two years ago for nearly a year. This is a clear retaliatory investigation and a political probe aimed at silencing critical media."