MBC's Lawyer Countersues People Power Party: "Kim Geon-hee's Recording Was Not Leaked"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] MBC's legal representative filed a complaint on the 19th against Rep. Yoo Sang-beom, chairman of the People Power Party's legal advisory committee, for defamation by spreading false information.

On the same day, lawyer Kim Kwang-jung of the law firm Hangyeol issued a press release stating that he filed a complaint against Rep. Yoo at the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul and also filed a civil lawsuit for damages at the Seoul Southern District Court.

Lawyer Kim was accused of leaking the contents of the call transcript recorded in the attachment of the broadcast injunction decision related to the '7-hour phone call' of Kim Gun-hee, spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, from Rep. Yoo.

However, lawyer Kim claimed, "I downloaded the court decision from the Supreme Court electronic litigation system and reported it only to MBC, the client and party to the case, on the 14th, and there was absolutely no leakage of this information to reporters or any external parties."

He added, "As a lawyer who strictly adheres to client confidentiality, this is only natural."

He further explained, "Downloading the decision from the Supreme Court electronic litigation system is a natural procedure for a lawyer to convey the trial results to the client who is a party to the case. Nevertheless, Rep. Yoo distributed a false press release to reporters on the 17th, claiming that lawyer Kim Kwang-jung 'intentionally and indiscriminately spread it to an unspecified large number of people including reporters,' based solely on the fact of the download and the lawyer's name listed as the attorney in charge on the decision."

He continued, "We express deep regret to Rep. Yoo and demand an immediate public apology through the media."

On the previous day, Rep. Yoo stated in a press release, "The People Power Party has filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office against lawyer Kim Kwang-jung, MBC's legal representative in the broadcast injunction injunction case filed by Kim Gun-hee against MBC, and the MBC investigative planning team Straight, for candidate defamation and false information disclosure under the Public Official Election Act."

He said that the accused "distributed or leaked parts prohibited from broadcast by the injunction ruling (Attachments 2 and 3) to an unspecified large number of people, effectively nullifying the effect of the court ruling."

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