MinEonRyeon Requests Prosecutorial Review Committee Investigation into 'Prosecutor-Media Collusion' Allegations

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media has requested the prosecution to entrust the judgment on the investigation of the 'media collusion' case to the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee composed of external experts.

The coalition stated on the 12th, "On the 10th afternoon, we submitted an application for convening the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office," adding, "This was separately applied for to actively express our position as the accuser in relation to the application for convening submitted by Lee Dong-jae, the key suspect and Channel A reporter."

The coalition emphasized, "We firmly oppose the suspect raising issues of investigation fairness, and we plan to actively urge during the deliberation process that the investigation team must continue a swift and strict investigation, and that the prosecution's indictment of the key suspects is absolutely necessary."

This is the third time a request has been made to convene the Investigation Deliberation Committee regarding this case. The application by Lee Cheol (55), former CEO of Value Invest Korea (VIK), who claims to have been threatened, has already been accepted and the committee is about to be convened. The suspect, Lee Dong-jae (35), former Channel A reporter, has also requested the convening of the Investigation Deliberation Committee.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Citizens' Committee plans to hold a sub-deliberation committee on the 13th to decide whether to accept Lee's request to convene the Investigation Deliberation Committee. Even if convened, since an Investigation Deliberation Committee for the same case is already scheduled, there is a high possibility of consolidation.

The prosecution must also decide whether to accept the coalition's request for convening. However, unlike former CEO Lee or reporter Lee, the majority interpretation is that the coalition, which filed the complaint, does not have the authority to request convening.

The operational guidelines for the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee define the parties eligible to apply for convening as ▲complainants ▲institutional accusers ▲victims, suspects, and their representatives and lawyers. Institutional accusers are generally considered to be ministries or institutions with official authority to file complaints, such as the Fair Trade Commission.

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