Investigation Review Committee on 'Geom-eon Yuchak' Held Today... Key Issues: Interpretation of Han Dong-hoon and Lee Dong-jae's Recordings and Conspiracy 여부

On the 9th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office sent an official letter to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which is investigating the so-called 'prosecutor-media collusion suspicion' case, stating that "the Prosecutor General has lost his command authority." On the morning of the 9th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced, "Minister Chu exercised investigative command authority, notifying the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office that Prosecutor General Yoon's command authority has already been lost." Following this stance by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the 'prosecutor-media collusion' case will be investigated independently by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. The photo shows the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on that day. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The so-called 'media-prosecutor collusion' suspicion case, in which a reporter and a chief prosecutor allegedly colluded to threaten a source, will be reviewed by external experts on the 24th.

Amid the emergence of the transcript of a conversation between Han Dong-hoon, the chief prosecutor involved in the suspicion, and Lee Dong-jae, former Channel A reporter, in February as the 'smoking gun,' a heated debate is expected over whether collusion between the two can be acknowledged.

According to the legal community, at 2 p.m. on the same day, the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee on the media-prosecutor collusion case will be held at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, to conclude whether the ongoing investigation by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is legitimate and whether the prosecution of the key suspects is appropriate.

It is known that Chief Prosecutor Han, former reporter Lee, their lawyers, and prosecutors from the investigation team, all related to the case, will attend the investigation deliberation committee to express their opinions.

The investigation team and those involved in the case must submit written opinions within 30 pages to the committee and present their views.

The Criminal Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is also reported to have submitted a written opinion the day before. According to the legal community, unlike the investigation team, the Criminal Division expressed the view that it is difficult to apply the charge of attempted coercion to former reporter Lee.

The committee members will listen to these opinions, engage in free discussion, and then decide whether to continue the investigation and whether to prosecute former reporter Lee and Chief Prosecutor Han, making recommendations to the prosecution. The committee's resolutions are advisory only, and the investigation team is not obliged to follow them.

The committee is composed of 15 members selected by lottery from 150 experts across various fields including the legal community, academia, media, civic groups, and culture and arts sectors.

The chairperson is former Supreme Court Justice Yang Chang-soo. While aiming for unanimous conclusions, if opinions do not align, decisions are made by a majority vote of attending members.

In February and March, the prosecution investigated former reporter Lee on suspicion of sending five letters to Lee Cheol, former CEO of Value Invest Korea (VIK), to threaten him in order to uncover corruption allegations against Yoo Si-min, director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation.

During this process, allegations arose that Chief Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, known as a close aide to Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, colluded with former reporter Lee.

On the 17th, the court issued an arrest warrant for former reporter Lee on charges of attempted coercion.

Lee's side protested, stating that the arrest warrant was issued based on an unconfirmed collusion relationship with Chief Prosecutor Han. Subsequently, they fueled controversy by releasing the full transcript and audio files of the conversation with Chief Prosecutor Han, which is one of the grounds for the collusion suspicion.

Interpretations vary among observers as to whether the content of the conversation can be seen as evidence of collusion.

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