Jin Jeong-seok to 'Junior Reporter' Kim Eui-gyeom: "Impersonating Police Has Always Been a Serious Crime"

On the 9th of last month, at the 'People Power Party Special Committee on Military Sexual Crime Fact-Finding and Recurrence Prevention Appointment Ceremony and 1st Meeting' held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Chairman Jeong Jin-seok is speaking.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Choyoung] On the 12th, Jeong Jin-seok, a member of the People Power Party, targeted Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Open Democratic Party and a "junior journalist," stating, "In the past, it was clearly a crime for journalists to impersonate police officers."

Jeong said in a post titled "Kim Eui-gyeom and the Monsters Around Him" on his Facebook that day, "Having worked at a newspaper before Kim, I was educated by my seniors that 'impersonating police officers for reporting is illegal behavior.'"

Earlier, Kim appeared on YTN Radio's "Hwang Bo-seon's Start of a New Morning" and claimed, "Since journalists do not have investigative authority, it seems they impersonated police officers," adding, "For older journalists, this was actually a very common practice," and criticized the prosecution's complaint by former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's side as excessive.

In response, Jeong said, "Impersonating police officers to make calls and report? Was I a reporter lacking skill?" He explained that he asked a junior reporter who joined in 2001, "When you were a social affairs reporter, did you sometimes impersonate police officers for reporting?" but received the reply, "Not at all, even in our time, impersonating police officers was unthinkable."

Jeong questioned, "Voice phishing involving impersonating police officers is wrong, so is it okay for journalists to impersonate police officers?" and "What kind of sophistry is it to say that journalists impersonated police officers because they lack investigative authority?"

He continued, "The freedom of the press and freedom of reporting that journalists enjoy must be exercised within the legal framework permitted by the judiciary," emphasizing, "Freedom of reporting is not allowed recklessly."

Finally, Jeong added, "I have been sick and tired of witnessing people who set up certificate forgery systems and insisted, 'Everyone does this for their children, so why not?' and those who stretch the standards and measures of the law like rubber bands since the Moon Jae-in administration took office," and said, "Kim made me realize that this long nightmare will not end easily."

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