"Honestly Curious About Yoo Si-min Allegations" MBC, Channel A Reporter -> Lee Cheol Letter Released

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A letter sent by a Channel A reporter to Lee Cheol, former CEO of Value Investment Korea (VIK). Photo by MBC website capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] MBC's "News Desk" reported allegations that a Channel A reporter pressured a source to reveal misconduct of Yoo Si-min, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, by leveraging his acquaintance with a sitting chief prosecutor. As evidence, MBC disclosed a letter the Channel A reporter sent to Lee Cheol, former CEO of Value Investment Korea (VIK).

The letter was revealed in a report titled "Channel A Reporter Lee 00 - Letter to Former CEO Lee Cheol Released" at 7:11 PM on the 2nd. According to the report, the Channel A reporter sent letters to Lee Cheol on February 17, February 20, last month’s 5th, and last month’s 10th.

In the letter, Channel A Reporter B wrote, "To be honest, I am curious about allegations related to Yoo Si-min (Roh Moo-hyun Foundation) and other key figures in politics and government," mentioning Chairman Yoo a total of six times.

MBC also released a written interview with Lee Cheol and themselves. Lee Cheol said, "Seeing questions that assume I hid money and gave money to political and government figures like Chairman Yoo, I thought there must be a huge conspiracy."

He added, "I was afraid because the 12-year sentence, as well as the irrational prosecution and trial over the past five years, seemed like fragments of a massive conspiracy."

Yoo Si-min, Chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 31st of last month, MBC reported that Channel A Reporter B contacted Lee Cheol, who is imprisoned at Seoul Southern Detention Center on charges of financial fraud. Lee Cheol received a final Supreme Court sentence of 12 years in prison last September for illegally collecting investment funds without permission.

According to the report, Reporter B conveyed to Lee Cheol that "the prosecution has initiated an investigation into allegations of insider trading related to SillaJen" and expressed a desire to meet.

Lee Cheol arranged for Reporter B to meet through an acquaintance, Mr. C, acting as his representative. Reporter B met with Mr. C and mentioned Lee Cheol’s family and asset confiscation, delivering a message that "if you do not reveal Chairman Yoo Si-min’s misconduct, you will face harsh investigation."

Furthermore, Reporter B promised to help secure leniency from the prosecution if information about Chairman Yoo was provided. Chairman Yoo gave a congratulatory speech at a SillaJen technology briefing and had a close relationship with former major shareholder Lee Cheol, leading opposition parties to raise suspicions of Yoo’s involvement with SillaJen.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the report, Reporter B also passed on a phone conversation with a certain chief prosecutor known to be a close associate of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl to Mr. C.

Reporter B played a recording of the conversation with the chief prosecutor to Mr. C, which included dialogue suggesting that if Lee Cheol cooperated with the prosecution’s investigation, the investigation into his family could be halted.

Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor mentioned in the recording reportedly told MBC that he is not in charge of the SillaJen case investigation and denied having any such conversation as reported.

Channel A stated, "The reporter immediately stopped the investigation after receiving an inappropriate request from Lee Cheol’s side to obtain a promise of leniency from the prosecution." They added, "We clearly conveyed once again that guaranteeing leniency is not possible." They also announced that they have formed an internal fact-finding committee and are conducting an investigation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.