Prosecutors Accelerate Investigation into 'Prosecutor-Media Collusion' Allegations... Legal Representative of Choi Kyung-hwan, Who Sued MBC, Also Questioned

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-dong, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The prosecution, which is investigating multiple lawsuits related to MBC's coverage of the ‘Sillajen’ case, is accelerating the investigation by hastening the questioning of the complainants.

According to the prosecution on the 22nd, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-ung) summoned and questioned Kim Seo-jung, the standing representative of the civic group Democratic Media Citizens' Coalition, who filed a complaint against a Channel A reporter and an unnamed prosecutor featured in MBC's report on the ‘media-prosecution collusion’ allegations, at 9:30 a.m. the previous day.

Also, at 6 p.m. on the same day, the prosecution completed the questioning of the complainant by summoning the legal representative of former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Kyung-hwan, who filed a lawsuit against the reporter and whistleblowers related to MBC's report on the ‘Sillajen 6.5 billion won investment suspicion’.

The lawsuit filed by former Deputy Prime Minister Choi, initially received by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, was transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 17th under the instruction of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and is now being investigated together by the Criminal Division 1, which is handling the ‘media-prosecution collusion’ allegations.

On the 1st, MBC reported suspicions that ‘former Deputy Prime Minister Choi and his associates may have invested 6.5 billion won in Sillajen in 2014 and made capital gains.’ Immediately after the report, former Deputy Prime Minister Choi's side completely denied the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against MBC.

Four days after Prosecutor General Yoon ordered the start of the investigation into the ‘media-prosecution collusion’ allegations and the transfer of former Deputy Prime Minister Choi's lawsuit from the Southern District Prosecutors' Office, the questioning of complainants in both cases was conducted simultaneously.

Following the broadcast, the Ministry of Justice's order for a reinvestigation after receiving the results of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's fact-finding investigation, the controversy over the start of an inspection by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Inspection Department, and the Human Rights Department's fact-finding investigation, there was criticism that the clarification of the allegations was delayed. This seems to have prompted the prosecution to speed up the investigation process.

The investigation team is expected to soon proceed with questioning the accused and witnesses following the complainants' questioning.

Meanwhile, the ‘media-prosecution collusion’ allegations, in which a Channel A reporter allegedly flaunted his friendship with a close prosecutor to Prosecutor General Yoon and demanded that the imprisoned former CEO of Value Investment, Lee Cheol, provide information on the misconduct of Yoo Si-min, director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, have escalated into a truth game between the whistleblower and the parties involved.

After the report, the prosecutor named by the whistleblower denied being the person in question, while the whistleblower insisted through media interviews that the voice heard in the phone call the reporter told him was definitely that prosecutor.

The prosecution must determine through investigation who the owner of the recorded file featured in MBC's report is, and whether the phone calls described in the report actually took place between the prosecutor named by the whistleblower and the reporter.

In particular, the Korea Communications Commission, on the 20th, approved the renewal of Channel A's license while reserving the right to revoke the renewal if the prosecution's investigation reveals serious issues affecting the public responsibility and fairness of the broadcast. This has drawn more attention to uncovering the truth of this case.

If the investigation reveals evidence that senior prosecutors colluded with the media to try to obtain investigation leads on Director Yoo or other current government officials, Prosecutor General Yoon's prosecution will suffer a fatal blow. Although Yoon still has more than half of his two-year term remaining, he may face a situation where he has to consider his position.

On the other hand, if the report is concluded to be a planned report in which a whistleblower who strongly supports the current government and some pro-government politicians cooperated politically from the whistleblowing stage, as some conservative media have pointed out, it is expected to impose considerable political burdens on the ruling party, which won a landslide victory in the general election.

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