Prosecutors Assign Criminal Division to Channel A Reporter and Prosecutor Reported in ‘MBC Report’ Case

On the morning of the 7th, representatives of the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media came to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, to submit a complaint against Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae and an unnamed prosecutor related to the MBC report on the 'collusion between prosecutors and media.' They are responding to questions from the press. Photo by Kim Hyung-min

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The case in which a civic group filed charges against a reporter involved in the Channel A reporter and prosecution collusion allegations reported by MBC on the 31st of last month has been assigned to the criminal division.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced on the 14th that it assigned the case, in which the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media (MinEonRyeon) filed charges on the 7th against Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae and an unnamed prosecutor for intimidation, to the Criminal Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-ung).

Following the notification of the commencement of an inspection by Han Dong-soo, head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol ordered the Human Rights Department to conduct a fact-finding investigation, drawing attention to whether the prosecution investigation will uncover the truth of the case.

Earlier, on the 7th, MinEonRyeon filed charges with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office against Channel A reporter Lee and an unnamed prosecutor for intimidation.

Kim Seo-jung, co-representative of MinEonRyeon, who came to the prosecution to submit the complaint at the time, stated, “It is unacceptable for a reporter to conduct reporting through intimidation, and a media company with such a reporter is practically as if it has received a death sentence as a media organization. I thought about what legal measures could be taken because this kind of incident is wrong and should never happen again, and seeing it as clear intimidation, we filed charges for intimidation.”

On the 31st of last month, MBC reported that a Channel A legal team reporter approached the side of former Value Investment CEO Lee Cheol, who is imprisoned in connection with the SillaJen case, and demanded information about the misconduct of Yoo Si-min, director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation. It also reported that during the process, the reporter boasted of his connections by playing a phone call with a chief prosecutor known to be a close aide of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol.

However, immediately after the report, the chief prosecutor in question stated that he was not the prosecutor appearing in the recording.

The Ministry of Justice, after receiving the results of this internal investigation from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, also ordered supplementary investigations.

There is no dispute in the legal or media circles that there was a problem with reporter Lee's reporting methods. In particular, many believe that Lee's mentioning of the family while seemingly implying he could influence the prosecution investigation against the imprisoned former CEO Lee could constitute intimidation or a violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act, depending on the circumstances.

However, the key issue in this case is not the criminal punishment of reporter Lee personally, but whether, as MBC reported, there was actual information sharing or transactions between reporter Lee and prosecution officials regarding the SillaJen investigation or misconduct of current government officials.

Especially with the upcoming general election, the allegations have sparked intense political battles between the ruling and opposition parties, further amplifying interest in the truth of the case.

If the prosecution investigation reveals, as the ruling party claims, the chronic collusion between the prosecution and the media, the purity of the prosecution's investigation into former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk will inevitably be questioned.

On the other hand, if it turns out, as the opposition claims, that the report was orchestrated by ardent supporters of the current government and some ruling party politicians to shake Prosecutor General Yoon, it is expected that investigations involving current government officials, such as the Lime Asset Management case after the general election, will gain momentum.

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