The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) Seeks Academic Opinions on Publicity Guidelines to Block Disclosure of Unproven Facts

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (Hogwigoongjikja Beomjoe Susacheo, Gongsucheo) is gathering opinions to create public relations guidelines that block the disclosure of case details to prevent human rights violations while ensuring the public's right to know.

According to Gongsucheo and academia on the 22nd, Gongsucheo has recently been collecting opinions from media-related scholars to prepare the public relations guidelines.

The public relations guidelines are expected to consist of two pillars: 'complete prohibition of disclosure of suspect facts' and 'measures to guarantee freedom of the press.'

Gongsucheo is trying to find a balance between these two potentially conflicting aspects.

The disclosure of suspect facts has been decided to be completely blocked based on the judgment that the behavior of existing investigative agencies caused serious human rights and defense rights violations.

Additionally, it is reported that the guidelines will specifically include declarations of the presumption of innocence principle and strengthened human rights protection measures.

The guidelines will also include provisions to maximize the guarantee of freedom of the press and the public's right to know. In particular, it is known that they plan to codify minimizing requests for corrections to prevent a chilling effect on the media.

According to the 'Regulations on Prohibition of Disclosure of Criminal Cases' operated by the prosecution, when there is false reporting that infringes on the honor, privacy, or other human rights of persons involved in a case and it is recognized that it is necessary to promptly correct the facts, a request for correction or rebuttal reporting can be made against the relevant media.

Gongsucheo plans to somewhat relax this regulation and respond only in cases where the human rights of the parties involved are seriously and significantly infringed. Requests for correction or rebuttal reporting will be regulated to require only minimal reflection of false information.

Meanwhile, since the 21st, Gongsucheo has been investigating circumstances of internal documents, such as the list of successful prosecutor candidates, being leaked externally and is conducting an internal audit of all employees.

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