Prosecutors Indict Former Media Executives for Money Transactions with Kim Man-bae

Received 890 million won and 204 million won respectively

The prosecution has brought to trial two former media executives accused of receiving bribes worth hundreds of millions of won from Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu.

On the 7th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jun-dong) indicted former Hankyoreh newspaper deputy editor Seok Mo and Jo Mo, an executive at JoongAng Ilbo, without detention on charges of breach of trust and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. Kim Man-bae, who is accused of providing a total of 1.204 billion won in illicit solicitations and bribes to three journalists including the two, was additionally indicted on the same day on charges of breach of trust mediation and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. The prosecution stated that the amount involved in Kim’s breach of trust mediation charge, for which the statute of limitations has not yet expired, is approximately 1.1 billion won.

The prosecution has requested an arrest warrant for the fifth cousin of Justice Minister Cho Kuk, a key figure in the 'private equity fund suspicion,' and there are expectations that Professor Jung Kyung-shim, the minister's wife, will soon be summoned. The photo was taken on the 16th at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Seok and Jo are accused of receiving illicit solicitations and bribes to prevent critical articles related to the Daejang-dong development project from being published and to ensure favorable coverage. The prosecution found that Seok received a total of 890 million won from Kim between May 2019 and August 2020, while Jo received a total of 204 million won between April 2019 and August 2021. However, some of Jo’s charges have expired due to the statute of limitations, so the prosecution only applied the breach of trust mediation charge for the remaining 103 million won and indicted him accordingly.