Decision to Convene Supreme Prosecutors' Office Investigation Deliberation Committee on 'Geom-eon Yuchak' Allegation...Approved by Central District Prosecutors' Office Citizens' Committee (Comprehensive)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The so-called 'media-prosecutor collusion' suspicion case, in which a reporter allegedly coerced and threatened a source by leveraging a relationship with a prosecutor, will be reviewed by the Prosecutor's Office Investigation Deliberation Committee.

According to the prosecution on the 29th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Citizen Committee approved a proposal at the morning session of the referral deliberation committee to refer the 'media-prosecutor collusion' suspicion case to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Investigation Deliberation Committee.

This decision follows former Value Invest Korea (VIK) CEO Lee Cheol's request for the convening of the Investigation Deliberation Committee after he revealed that he was subjected to threatening reporting by a Channel A reporter.

The Investigation Deliberation Committee is a system introduced to review the investigation process of cases that raise public suspicion or attract social attention.

It determines whether to continue the investigation, whether to prosecute or not, whether to request an arrest warrant, and evaluates the appropriateness and legality of prosecuted or non-prosecuted cases.

Requests for convening can be made by complainants, victims, suspects, or other parties involved in the case to the relevant prosecutors' office citizen committee.

If the referral deliberation committee resolves to convene the Investigation Deliberation Committee, the Prosecutor General must accept this and hold the committee.

On the 26th, the Investigation Deliberation Committee was convened regarding the investigation into the illegal succession of management rights by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, leaving a precedent. Of the 13 current members of the Investigation Deliberation Committee, 10 recommended that the prosecution stop the investigation and issue a non-prosecution disposition for Vice Chairman Lee.

Lee's side submitted a request to convene the Investigation Deliberation Committee to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 25th as a countermeasure after the decision to convene a professional investigation advisory group requested by former Channel A reporter Lee was made.

Earlier, the reporter's side submitted a petition to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office requesting the convening of a professional advisory group, arguing that the prosecution's investigation had lost procedural fairness.

Subsequently, Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl reviewed the petition through working-level departments and chief meetings and decided that an in-depth expert review and careful supervisory control were necessary, thus deciding to convene the professional advisory group.

Meanwhile, the prosecution is investigating the media-prosecutor collusion suspicion on a 'two-track' basis. The Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jung Jin-woong) and the Human Rights Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office are examining the case.

The Ministry of Justice also appointed Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, who was named as a party involved in the media-prosecutor collusion suspicion, as a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute on the 25th and is conducting direct supervision.

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