‘Presidential Election Public Opinion Manipulation False Interview’ Kim Man-bae and Shin Hak-rim, Warrant Hearing on the 20th

Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, who is suspected of conducting a false interview and exchanging money during the 20th presidential election, and Shin Hak-rim, former chairman of the Korean Federation of Journalists' Unions, will undergo a warrant hearing (pre-arrest suspect interrogation) on the 20th.

Major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, Kim Man-bae [Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 18th, Kim Seok-beom, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, plans to conduct Kim's warrant hearing at 10:10 a.m. and Shin's warrant hearing at 11:10 a.m. on the 20th.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office filed a pre-arrest warrant request on the 17th against Kim and former chairman Shin on charges including receiving 165 million won as payment for false reports related to the Busan Savings Bank investigation, disguising it as book payments (defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act, breach of trust, bribery, violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, violation of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, and extortion).

According to the prosecution, on September 15, 2021, Kim conducted an interview with Shin, who was then a specialist at Newstapa, with the implication that "President Yoon Seok-yeol covered up the case of Jo Woo-hyung, a loan broker in Daejang-dong, while the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Central Investigation Department was investigating the Busan Savings Bank case." Newstapa reported this interview on March 6, 2022, three days before the presidential election.

It was confirmed that Kim handed over 165 million won to Shin on September 20, 2021, five days after the interview. Shin's side claimed it was payment for books, but the prosecution believes the two exchanged money as compensation for the false interview.