[Yes and No] Kim Woong and Kim Man-bae Are Not Supporting Characters

The Daejang-dong scandal and the commissioned accusation case target the leading presidential candidates from both the ruling and opposition parties. Whether Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-yeol are involved will serve as a key criterion in deciding who to choose as the next president. However, apart from this main issue, we need to pay more attention to two figures: Kim Man-bae and Kim Woong. Their roles are not merely as links or supporting characters that reveal whether these suspicions will reach the presidential candidates. They themselves hold a unique significance as symbolic figures representing the reform targets of this era?the media and the prosecution.

Kim Woong, a former prosecutor turned member of the National Assembly, is suspected of acting as a bridge between the prosecution and the People Power Party in the ‘commissioned accusation’ case. He is someone who left the prosecutor’s office and entered politics in opposition to prosecution reform. If he stood at a point of deep-rooted corruption involving collusion between politics and the prosecution, it would be nothing short of shocking. It is known that the prosecution secured a recorded phone conversation between Kim and Cho Seong-eun, which proves Kim’s role as an intermediary, and the contents were reported by many media outlets. According to the recording, Kim told Cho things like, “I will write and send the accusation letter, so submit it to the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office,” or “It must be submitted to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, never to the Central District Prosecutor’s Office,” and “If you go to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, it will look like Yoon Seok-yeol ordered it, so I have to stay out of it.”

On the 8th, when asked by reporters about this, Kim said, “I did not deny the fact that I talked with (Cho) from the beginning; I said I don’t remember.” “If that person doesn’t remember but the recipient does, that itself could be false.” He must know that this explanation is weak. Before the public, who are asking whether the opposition’s top presidential candidate led or condoned unconstitutional acts and what role he played in the process, he abandoned all authority, dignity, and shame, resorting to defensive sophistry in preparation for future investigations. He seriously mocked the public and the media. Many citizens believe that the reason he resorts to sophistry is that he has no other way to deny his involvement in wrongdoing. Regardless of whether the prosecution ultimately uncovers his guilt or not, he has already lost his qualifications as a politician by abandoning his duty as a public official and respect for the people.

Kim Man-bae appeared before investigative authorities and insisted in front of senior and junior journalists that his business was legal. Regardless of whether he gave illegal funds to public officials, politicians, or legal professionals during his business dealings, he seems unaware that he has inflicted an irreparable wound on the media community to which he once belonged. Society grants the media the right to approach those in power and ask questions to monitor and criticize them. The connections and information gained in this process are never meant to be used for personal business. They should rightfully be social assets used to promote truthful reporting and the public’s right to know. However, he did not hesitate to exchange these for private gain.

Kim Woong and Kim Man-bae will be recorded as representative figures symbolizing the reasons why the prosecution and media must be reformed, and they must be so. Legally and ethically scrutinizing their actions, holding them accountable for their rightful crimes, and using them as lessons is a core task that society must accomplish, separate from the verification of the two presidential candidates, Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-yeol.

Shin Beom-su, Chief of Political Affairs

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