Witness Lee Dong-jae Appears in Trial of Choi Kang-wook on 'Defamation' Charges

Choi Kang-wook, Leader of the Open Democratic Party / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Former Channel A reporter Lee Dongjae will appear in court as a victim and witness in the trial of Choi Kangwook, leader of the Open Democratic Party.

According to the legal community on the 18th, on the 23rd, Judge Kim Taekyun of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 16 will hold a trial for Choi, who was indicted on charges of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act, and will conduct witness examination of former reporter Lee.

Earlier, Choi was indicted for defamation for spreading false information about former reporter Lee in a post titled "Summary of Channel A reporter's statements in letters and transcripts" on social networking services (SNS) in April last year.

The post included statements such as "Former reporter Lee told former Value Invest Korea (VIK) CEO Lee Cheol to 'close your eyes and say you handed money to Yoo Si-min,' and said 'We will search Yoo Si-min's house and family, as well as the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, where Yoo Si-min serves as chairman.'"

At the time, former reporter Lee was under suspicion of the so-called 'prosecutor-media collusion' for allegedly conspiring with Prosecutor Han Donghoon to coerce former CEO Lee to provide information on corruption involving political figures such as Yoo Si-min, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation.

Choi's legal team argued, "The essence of this case is not simply a matter of journalistic ethics, but that the reporter colluded with the prosecution to obtain investigation information."

Meanwhile, former reporter Lee was acquitted in the first trial on the 16th on charges of attempted intimidation during an interview with former CEO Lee, who is currently detained in a detention center.

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