What Exactly Was the 'Substantial Evidence' That Led to Dongjae Lee's Detention?

Court Mentioned During Warrant Issuance
Doubt Over Existence Due to Physical Altercation
"If Han Dong-hoon Is Acquitted, Court Is Responsible"

Lee Dong-jae, former Channel A reporter identified as a key suspect in the 'alleged collusion between prosecutors and media,' is attending the warrant hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 17th. The reporter is accused of threatening Lee Cheol, former CEO of Value Invest Korea (VIK), during his investigation of the 'Shinrajen scandal,' warning that he could face criminal disadvantages if he did not provide information about alleged corruption involving Yoo Si-min, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team, which is probing allegations of collusion between prosecutors and media, is reportedly struggling to prove Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon's 'conspiracy' charges. Meanwhile, renewed attention is being drawn to what the court referred to as 'substantial evidence' when issuing arrest warrants for Chief Investigator Jung Jin-woong of the Criminal Division 1 and former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae.

On the 7th, amid controversy over the investigation into the collusion allegations, Chief Investigator Jung posted on the prosecution's internal network, E-Pros, stating that "a number of important pieces of evidence have been secured, bringing us significantly closer to the substantive truth." It is highly unusual for the head of an investigation team to provide such an explanation about the investigation status. This was interpreted as a sign of confidence that they had secured some evidence indicating a 'conspiratorial relationship' between Prosecutor Han and former reporter Lee.

Subsequently, when the investigation team requested the arrest warrant for former reporter Lee, Judge Kim Dong-hyun, who is in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, stated, "There is substantial evidence to suspect that the suspect attempted to threaten the victim by connecting with a high-ranking prosecutor." This effectively confirmed Chief Investigator Jung's official confidence in proving the charges.

However, the situation later took a completely different turn. On the 29th, when Chief Investigator Jung struggled physically to seize Prosecutor Han's mobile phone, Kim Jong-min, a lawyer from Dongin Law Firm, criticized the court's issuance of the warrant on his social media platform Facebook, writing that "the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee judged that the crime was not established, but since the court issued the search warrant, if an acquittal is later pronounced, the court will not be free from responsibility."

While the issuance of a warrant does not necessarily imply a guilty verdict, many voices express doubt about whether the 'substantial evidence to suspect' that the court mentioned actually existed from the beginning. The fact that the investigation team physically struggled with Prosecutor Han to secure evidence is seen as proof that they have yet to obtain decisive evidence to prove the conspiracy charges. It is known that the team analyzed the SIM card they painstakingly secured but failed to achieve significant results and returned it to Prosecutor Han within three hours. A lawyer in Seocho-dong commented, "Whether the search and seizure was legitimate should have been determined during the warrant review, but a search involving a physical struggle cannot be considered legitimate, and the court's allowance of this is a serious error."

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