Hwang Hee-seok: "Shared Tip-off Details with Choi Kang-wook and Yoo Si-min Just Before 'Channel A Incident' Report"

Choi Kang-wook, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Jin-hyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Former Open Democratic Party Supreme Council member Hwang Heeseok testified that he shared the tip-off content with Rep. Choi Kangwook of the Democratic Party and former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Yoo Si-min a day before the so-called 'Channel A incident' was reported.

On the afternoon of the 31st, Judge Kim Taekyun of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 16 presided over the continuation of the trial of Rep. Choi, who was indicted on charges of defamation.

Former Supreme Council member Hwang, who appeared as a witness that day, testified that he met Mr. Ji Mo, the so-called 'Whistleblower X,' at the end of March 2020, just before the case was reported in the media, after being introduced by the lawyer of former Value Invest Korea (VIK) CEO Lee Cheol, and heard related explanations at that meeting.

He said, "Reporter Lee Dong-jae of Channel A kept sending letters and even visited my home, but the content was strange, and I heard that the prosecution and the media seemed to be colluding to orchestrate something."

He added, "I heard that (I) approached to confirm that the reporter was pressuring to provide specific tip-offs about Mr. Yoo Si-min." He also said, "I heard that there was a prosecutor known as a close aide to then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol behind the incident." This is reported to refer to Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon.

Former Supreme Council member Hwang explained that on the 30th of the same month, he met with Rep. Choi, who was then a proportional representation candidate, and other Open Democratic Party officials at a hotel in Seoul and disclosed the tip-off content.

Former Supreme Council member Hwang conveyed the situation at the time, saying, "(Former Chairman Yoo) came up from the provinces late at night to hear the explanation, and expressed great astonishment and anger."

Earlier, on April 3, 2020, Rep. Choi posted on his social media account that "Reporter Lee told former CEO Lee Cheol to 'just close your eyes and say you gave money to Yoo Si-min,' and said 'We will search Yoo Si-min's house and family, and also the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, where Yoo Si-min serves as chairman,'" which led to his indictment on charges of defamation.

Meanwhile, Minister Han was suspected of the so-called 'prosecution-media collusion' in this case but was cleared due to lack of evidence. Reporter Lee was indicted on charges of attempted coercion but was acquitted in the first trial.

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