Prosecutors Clear Han Dong-hoon of 'Channel A Case' After 2 Years

Central District Prosecutors' Office: "No Evidence to Prove Collusion Between Prosecutor General and Reporter, No Charges"
'Whistleblower X' Who Reported MBC on Prosecutor-Media Collusion Indicted Without Detention for Obstruction of Business and Other Charges

Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon is appearing as a witness at the trial related to the assault involving Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-ung of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, held on the 21st at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Han Dong-hoon, Deputy Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute (Chief Prosecutor), was cleared of charges related to the so-called ‘Channel A incident’ after two years. This essentially means that the prosecution, which investigated Chief Prosecutor Han for the past two years, acknowledged that there was no ‘collusion between prosecutors and media.’

The Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Seon-hyuk) announced on the 6th that Chief Prosecutor Han, who was accused of attempted coercion, was cleared due to insufficient evidence.

The Central District Prosecutors’ Office explained, "Based on established legal principles regarding joint perpetrators in conspiracy and the evidence, there was no proof to recognize conspiracy, so the charge was dismissed."

The prosecution indicted Ji Mo, ‘Whistleblower X,’ who reported the suspicions of collusion between prosecutors and media to MBC, without detention on charges of defamation. The prosecution judged that Ji Mo spread false information related to the ShillaJen investigation to Channel A reporters, obstructing their work and damaging the reporters’ reputations.

Additionally, MBC officials who were accused of defamation for false reporting that damaged the reputation of media reporters were either cleared of charges or had their cases dismissed.

Regarding Chief Prosecutor Han, the prosecution noted that in July 2020, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Investigation Deliberation Committee recommended suspension of investigation and non-prosecution. Subsequently, attempts were made to perform forensic analysis on Han’s mobile phone, but it was judged that with current technology, unlocking the device was no longer effective.

A prosecution official stated, "To unlock a password combining numbers and letters, the number of possible combinations is nearly infinite. With current technology, even estimating the time required to unlock is impossible, and repeatedly attempting to unlock over a long period raises questions about the appropriateness of such efforts from the perspective of investigation adequacy."

Earlier, the Criminal Division 1 investigation team (Chief Prosecutor Lee Seon-hyuk), which investigated the Channel A incident, reported the investigation progress and handling plans to Lee Jung-soo, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, on the 4th. On the morning of the same day, a meeting of chief prosecutors was held, attended by the investigation team, deputy chief prosecutors, and some chief prosecutors, to gather final opinions on the recognition of legal and factual matters. It was reported that most of the senior officials attending the meeting agreed with the investigation team’s opinion.

The investigation team had repeatedly expressed the opinion that Chief Prosecutor Han should be cleared, but Lee Sung-yoon, then Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office and former head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, along with some senior officials, repeatedly ignored the investigation team’s opinions. Despite a complete replacement of the investigation team through personnel changes last year, the current investigation team also expressed a no-charge opinion regarding Chief Prosecutor Han, leading to a dominant analysis that Lee Jung-soo lost justification to delay the decision.

This case began in April 2020 when the Citizens’ Coalition for Democratic Media filed a complaint against former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae and Chief Prosecutor Han based on MBC’s report on ‘collusion between prosecutors and media.’ It was alleged that Channel A reporters, leveraging their friendship with Chief Prosecutor Han, coerced ‘Whistleblower X,’ associated with former ValueInvest Korea CEO Lee Cheol, to report suspicions involving former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Yoo Si-min and other ruling party figures in connection with the ShillaJen case.

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