Kim Bong-hyun: "Lobby recording file differs from facts... Never gave money to politicians"

Denial of Recording Content Released by Specific Media Outlet... "The Heard Content Was Exaggerated"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Kim Bong-hyun, former chairman of Star Mobility (46, currently detained), who exposed allegations of prosecutors receiving alcohol entertainment, has stated that the recordings released through the media are not true.

On the 16th, Kim released a statement through his lawyer, saying, "At the time the call was recorded, Lee Kang-se, CEO of Star Mobility, was attacking me and those around me," and added, "An acquaintance suggested that we should also attack Lee Kang-se, so we had such a conversation."

He said, "The contents mentioned in the recording are not true," and explained, "I said those things thinking that if I hinted to the reporter (about lobbying-related matters), Lee Kang-se would be afraid of me."

Earlier, a media outlet released a recorded file of a phone call between Kim and an associate while he was on the run in April of this year.

In the file, Kim mentioned ▲ lobbying of ruling party politicians ▲ receiving help from a prosecutor while on the run ▲ indirect acquaintance with former Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il and former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Oh-soo ▲ lobbying related to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and urged the reporter to report these matters.

In a statement released from prison last month, he claimed that "the prosecution induced testimony about ruling party lobbying through coercive investigation." However, the recording revealed that he instructed the lobbying report related to ruling party figures before his arrest, casting doubt on the credibility of his testimony.

In response, Kim insisted that the words he spoke in the recording were either lies or exaggerated.

He said, "Just by looking at me saying 'the reporter will make a story' in the recording, it does not mean that what I said was true," and added, "The calls about requests to Kim Oh-soo or the recordings related to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy gate were just exaggerations of what I heard."

He further claimed, "The report that I gave 250 million won to Kim Young-chun, Secretary General of the National Assembly, is clearly false," and explained, "It is a distortion of the fact that money was exchanged between Lee Kang-se and me from around 2014 to 2016."

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