Former Head of Criminal Division at Supreme Prosecutors' Office: "Investigation is biased only on 'Geom-eon collusion' compared to 'Kwon-eon collusion'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 30th, Park Young-jin, the chief prosecutor of the Criminal Division 1 at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office at the time of the investigation into Channel A reporter's attempted coercion, known as the 'media collusion' case, testified in court that the investigation was narrowly focused only on the media collusion aspect, ignoring the other suspicion of collusion between the media and authorities.

Park appeared as a witness at the second hearing of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's lawsuit to cancel his disciplinary action, held by the Administrative Division 12 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Jung Yong-seok) on the 30th, and made these remarks.

As the head of the Criminal Division 1 at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, he directly led the investigation into former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae's attempted coercion charges. In court, when asked by Yoon's legal representative whether investigations into both collusion between the media and authorities and media collusion were conducted, Park replied, "From beginning to end, the investigation was mainly focused on media collusion."

He further explained, "Regarding the (MBC's) sting operation-related part, there were suspicions since around April last year, but I was never briefed on the progress of that investigation."

He also stated, "Only much later were summonses issued to Ji Mo, known as 'Whistleblower X,' and MBC reporters, and until then, the investigation had not been actively conducted."

During cross-examination by the Ministry of Justice's legal representative, Park was asked, "Lee Dong-jae's side raised issues of collusion between the media and authorities and sting operations. After the media collusion case, conflicts arose between broadcasting companies, which led to reports on collusion between the media and authorities, didn't it?" Park drew a line, responding, "I am not aware of conflicts between broadcasting companies."

He added, "I had concerns about the investigation being narrowly conducted on only one side of the two-pronged investigation (media collusion and collusion between the media and authorities)."

Former Prosecutor General Yoon received a two-month suspension for a total of four reasons. Among them was the charge of obstructing the investigation and inspection of the Channel A case. The gist of the allegation is that Yoon obstructed the investigation and inspection after his close associate, Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, was identified as conspiring with former reporter Lee.

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