On the 11th, the prosecution filed arrest warrants for two former journalists suspected of receiving bribes from Kim Man-bae, a private contractor involved in the Daejang-dong development project.
On the same day, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jun-dong) filed pre-arrest warrants for two individuals, former Hankyoreh newspaper deputy editor Seok and former JoongAng Ilbo editorial writer Jo, who are accused of breach of trust and violation of the Anti-Graft Act.
According to the prosecution, they are suspected of receiving illicit requests and bribes from Kim to prevent critical articles about the Daejang-dong development project from being published and to ensure favorable coverage.
It was identified that former deputy editor Seok received a total of 890 million KRW between May 2019 and August 2020 along with the requests, while former editorial writer Jo received a total of 210 million KRW between April 2019 and August 2021.
Meanwhile, former journalist A, who was under investigation in connection with the case and previously worked for Hankook Ilbo, was found dead in Danyang-gun, Chungbuk Province on the 29th of last month. The prosecution closed the case due to lack of prosecution rights following A's death.
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