'Citizen Group Accuses Lee Jin-sook, KCC Chair, of Misusing Official Card: "Unfit for Public Office"'

Citizen Group to Conduct First Complainant Investigation on 23rd
"Chairman Lee Should Go to the Prosecutor's Office"

A civic group that reported Lee Jin-sook, Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, for private use of a corporate card during her tenure as president of Daejeon Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) was investigated by the police.

Representatives of civic groups such as the National Union of Media Workers and the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media held a press conference on the afternoon of the 23rd before undergoing a complainant investigation regarding allegations of misuse of corporate credit cards by Lee Jin-sook, Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At around 1 p.m. on the 23rd, civic groups including the Korean Federation of Mediaworkers' Unions, the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media, and the Korean Progressive Network, who reported Chairperson Lee, appeared at the Suseo Police Station in Seoul for complainant questioning.

They had filed a complaint against Chairperson Lee on July 31 with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on charges of breach of trust in the course of duty. The prosecution transferred the case to the Suseo Police Station on the 7th and conducted the first complainant questioning.

Through the confirmation hearing, it was revealed that Chairperson Lee spent a total of 114.79 million KRW over 1,157 transactions using a corporate card during her tenure as president of Daejeon MBC. Records also showed that the corporate card was used in Seoul, her residence, rather than her workplace in Daejeon.

Before the complainant questioning began that day, the civic groups held a press conference titled "Lee Jin-sook Corporate Card Misuse, Complainant Investigation Press Conference."

Yoon Chang-hyun, Chairperson of the Media Union, stated, "The Yoon Suk-yeol administration has previously dismissed several public broadcasting directors mid-term on the pretext of corporate card misuse. If the same principle is applied to the investigation, the place Chairperson Lee should go is not the Korea Communications Commission office but the prosecution's interrogation room."

Shin Tae-seop, Co-Executive Director of the Media Citizens' Coalition, said, "We reported Chairperson Lee because her shameless corporate card usage record shows she is unfit as a public official. She was appointed not to guarantee the public nature of broadcasting but to promote the regime's control over broadcasting."

Attorney Lee Hee-young and Chairperson of the Media and Press Committee of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) said, "Chairperson Lee claimed the corporate card was mainly used for advertising sales, but advertising is not the president's duty at a public broadcaster. We hope the investigation is conducted strictly and the truth behind the breach of trust charges is thoroughly uncovered."