MBC 'Geom-eon Yuchak' Allegation Whistleblower Reported to Prosecution... Charged with Obstruction of Business

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Ji Mo (55), known as the whistleblower in the ‘media-prosecutor collusion’ allegations reported by MBC at the end of March, has been reported to the prosecution on charges of obstruction of business.

Ji is currently being sued for defamation by former Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choi Kyung-hwan in relation to MBC’s report on suspicions of Choi’s investment in SillaJen, as of the 6th.

The civic group Action Alliance for Establishing the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) held a press conference in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on the morning of the 4th, stating, “Lee Cheol, former CEO of Value Invest Korea (VIK), denied the existence of files related to ruling and opposition party figures concerning the SillaJen case, which the whistleblower claimed in interviews with the media,” and added, “The whistleblower deceived Channel A reporters by pretending that non-existent files actually existed, thereby obstructing their investigative work.”

Beopse-ryeon also claimed, “There is reasonable suspicion that the whistleblower set a trap and induced conversations to create the media-prosecutor collusion frame,” and “The whistleblower’s side first requested Channel A reporters to provide ‘recordings of phone calls with prosecutors’ and also made an improper request to delay the departure of former CEO Lee.”

They continued, “It is unclear whether the prosecutor and Channel A reporters actually had a phone conversation, and even if they did, since no illegal acts were committed, the media-prosecutor collusion frame cannot be established,” and pointed out, “Considering that the whistleblower is an ardent supporter of the current administration, the essence of this incident is closer to ‘media-government collusion’.”

Earlier, former Deputy Prime Minister Choi additionally sued MBC personnel who reported on allegations against him and whistleblower Ji at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office. The case has been transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office for investigation under the direction of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol.

Meanwhile, Ji is reportedly willing to cooperate with the prosecution’s investigation regarding the case in which he is the accused but refuses to respond to the prosecution’s investigation related to Channel A, where he is a witness.

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