Kim Eo-jun Faces Criminal Charges Over Remarks on 'Kim Geon-hee's Dior Outfit'

TBS Radio 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' host Kim Eo-jun / Photo by 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' YouTube screen capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Kim Eo-jun, the host of TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' who is effectively under resignation pressure from Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, has been criminally reported for his radio remarks regarding the attire of Kim Geon-hee, the spouse of President Yoon Seok-yeol.

The Action Alliance for Establishing the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) announced on the 7th that it has filed a criminal complaint against Kim Eo-jun at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on charges of defamation by spreading false information under the Information and Communications Network Act.

Beopse-ryeon stated, "President Yoon Seok-yeol and First Lady Kim Geon-hee attended KBS1's 'Open Concert' held at the Blue House on the 22nd of last month, during which Mrs. Kim reportedly wore a yellow checkered jacket by Dior."

They continued, "Regarding the Dior jacket worn by Mrs. Kim, Kim Eo-jun said on the 3rd during his TBS radio program 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' 'I contacted Dior headquarters in Paris. We received the product serial number (product identification number). Having a serial number means it is a product of that company, right? We sent a photo of the jacket Mrs. Kim wore. We exchanged several communications about that product. Initially, the headquarters said they could not confirm it, but the second time, along with the serial number, they said it could not be purchased in Korea. So we asked again if it could be bought elsewhere. They said it could not be purchased even in Europe. The product is indeed from that company. If you're curious about the serial number, we can provide it. How could she have purchased a product that cannot be bought?' He claimed, 'The jacket Mrs. Kim wore cannot be purchased in our country.'"

Beopse-ryeon added, "However, according to a report by Chosun Ilbo, a new product with the same color and pattern, including this jacket, was officially introduced domestically this year, and Mrs. Kim reportedly purchased the jacket after looking at several outfits at a Dior store south of the Han River."

They further stated, "Additionally, a luxury brand industry insider said that the Dior white blouse Mrs. Kim wore during early voting on the 28th of last month and the Dior sneakers she wore at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 29th were also purchased from the same store."

Beopse-ryeon declared, "Therefore, the claim by host Kim Eo-jun that 'Mrs. Kim purchased a product that she could not buy' is a clear falsehood, and since it was spread publicly with the intent to defame Mrs. Kim, damaging her honor, we are filing a criminal complaint against host Kim Eo-jun for violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (defamation by spreading false information)."

Beopse-ryeon criticized, "As a public broadcaster TBS host, he should maintain political neutrality and broadcast fairly. Yet, while defending First Lady Kim Jung-sook's clothing controversy with all sorts of sophistry, he spread false information to create controversy regarding Kim Geon-hee's attire. This shows a neglect of the duties of a public broadcaster host and a terrible practice of unfair biased broadcasting based on factional logic," adding, "The damage from this is directly borne by the citizens of Seoul."

They continued, "No matter how much one is the president's spouse, being criticized with false information is a terrible witch hunt and character assassination," emphasizing, "Despite being a public broadcaster host, the damage caused by Kim Eo-jun's 'take it or leave it' style political manipulation broadcast is severe."

Beopse-ryeon also appealed, "Not only the victim, Mrs. Kim Geon-hee, but also the citizens of Seoul who inevitably encounter Kim Eo-jun's political manipulation broadcasts on public transportation and elsewhere suffer greatly," urging, "We ask for a thorough investigation and severe punishment of the accused to prevent further harm to innocent victims and to establish fairness in TBS broadcasting."

Meanwhile, Mayor Oh Se-hoon has previously expressed his intention to reorganize the city-affiliated traffic broadcasting station TBS, which has been embroiled in political bias controversies due to programs hosted by Kim, into an educational broadcasting station.

In this regard, on the 3rd, Kim Eo-jun said on 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' after evaluating the June 1 local elections, "Let me briefly talk about the fate of News Factory as well. It seems there is a plan to change the traffic broadcasting station into an educational broadcasting station. They could just remove me, so why the forced educational broadcasting?"

Kim Eo-jun added, "That's Mayor Oh Se-hoon's style. He wraps his true intentions in a plausible cover. Does he think people don't know? Let's all watch together to see what happens."

Meanwhile, Lee Jong-bae, who has served as the representative of Beopse-ryeon, was elected as a proportional representative member of the Seoul City Council through the People Power Party nomination in the June 1 local elections. Lee, who resigned from the representative position as of the 4th, announced that he will remain a member of Beopse-ryeon until the end of this month and then withdraw from the organization. Until the new Beopse-ryeon leadership is formed, Lee Hye-kyung, co-representative of the People's Hope Education Coalition, will serve as the interim representative of Beopse-ryeon.

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