Kim Kyung-soo Case Court Battle... "Did Not Watch King Crab Demonstration" vs "Actively Involved in Crime"

Gyeongnam Governor Kim Kyung-soo, who was indicted on charges of manipulating comments on a portal site, is entering the courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 27th to attend the second trial and is being questioned by reporters. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The office of Kim Kyung-soo, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, who was indicted on charges of conspiring to manipulate online comments, reiterated their previous claim that "they did not witness the demonstration of the comment manipulation program King Crab, nor were they aware of any comment manipulation."

On the other hand, the special prosecution team led by Heo Ik-beom requested the court, stating, "Governor Kim was actively involved in the criminal acts of this case," and added, "We hope that his denial of the criminal facts will also be taken into account during sentencing."

During the continuation of the appeal trial for Kim's case involving computer-related obstruction of business, held on the 27th at the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Ham Sang-hoon), a tense standoff unfolded between both sides over whether there was a conspiracy to manipulate comments.

On this day, both parties prepared presentations (PT) to express their positions after the new trial panel requested to hear the opinions of the special prosecution and defense counsel again regarding the overall case.

The special prosecution team presented their position first. They stated, "The defendant personally checked the trends of comments on portal site articles and actively participated in the ranking manipulation crime by sending related articles to 'Druking' Kim Dong-won."

They continued, "A provisional judgment has been made that the defendant received a briefing from Kim Dong-won and witnessed the demonstration of King Crab, which is proven by objective non-testimonial evidence, and this holds true even if the testimonial evidence from Kim Dong-won, which the defendant disputes, is excluded."

The special prosecution emphasized, "Despite being an elected member of the National Assembly at the time, the defendant used his authority and influence to engage in crimes that undermined the fairness of the election."

They also pointed out, "During the trial, the defendant consistently offered unconvincing excuses, and on the day of the original sentencing, he released a protest statement attacking individual judges, causing social unrest."

The special prosecution further stated, "Due to the defendant's crimes, the function of forming healthy online public opinion was severely damaged, and the foundation of democracy and constitutional values guaranteed by fair elections were put at risk."

Gyeongnam Governor Kim Kyung-soo, who was indicted on charges of manipulating comments on a portal site, is entering the courtroom to attend the second trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 27th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

In response, Governor Kim's defense attorney emphasized, "The essence of this case is that the Economic Co-Prosperity Group (Gyeonggongmo) harbored resentment against the defendant and sought to entangle him as an accomplice."

The defense attorney said, "Gyeonggongmo approached the defendant under the pretext of ordinary support activities, then secretly carried out illegal comment ranking manipulation without the defendant's knowledge. After their personnel recommendation request was rejected and they faced criminal punishment, they developed resentment against the defendant."

Kim's defense attorney argued, "Kim Dong-won began to involve the defendant more seriously after his deal proposal to the prosecutor was rejected, believing that involving the defendant would lead to his own acquittal."

He added, "There is almost no key evidence proving that Kim Dong-won and the defendant conspired as co-principals. The special prosecution tries to supplement this by invoking a politically charged and special relationship frame, but the important issue is whether the demonstration and development approval of King Crab occurred on November 9, 2016."

He stressed, "Even looking at the online information reports and log records from November 2016, there is no evidence that a demonstration was conducted for the defendant. The special prosecution failed to clarify the defendant's whereabouts, and Kim Dong-won and others changed their stories and lied."

Meanwhile, upon entering the court that day, Governor Kim said, "I will do my best to sincerely participate in the remaining trials to uncover the truth."

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