Hankyoreh Fires Reporter Over 900 Million Won Transaction with Kim Man-bae

Major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, Kim Man-bae [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Hankyoreh newspaper announced on the 10th that it has decided to dismiss former editorial executive A, who was found to have engaged in financial transactions with Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, the private developer involved in the Daejang-dong development project.

Hankyoreh explained that at the personnel committee meeting held the previous day, it was determined that A violated the obligations of integrity and fairness stipulated in the employment regulations, the code of conduct, the Hankyoreh ethics code, and the conflict of interest avoidance clause in the reporting guidelines, and also damaged the company’s reputation, leading to this decision.

According to Hankyoreh, in A’s first written explanation submitted to the company, he claimed, "While considering the subscription, I borrowed a total of 900 million KRW, including 300 million KRW (after deducting 10 million KRW in advance interest, 290 million KRW) from Kim in May 2019, all by check." This amount is 300 million KRW more than the 600 million KRW he disclosed on the 6th after being verbally asked for an explanation by the company.

Hankyoreh also announced that it will expand the fact-finding investigation committee to include outside personnel. It is expected that external experts, including Professor Kim Min-jung from the Department of Media Communication at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, will participate in the investigation. This information was also published on the front page of Hankyoreh’s June 10 edition.

The investigation committee plans to conduct a broad review not only of the financial suspicions involving A but also whether he, as a managerial officer, influenced articles related to Daejang-dong, and will announce the results as soon as possible. It is reported that A informed B, then the department head, about the financial transactions with Kim in March last year, but B did not report this to the company immediately and only notified the company nine days later, subsequently expressing his intention to resign. The delay in confirming the issue due to B, the head of the main investigative department on the Daejang-dong allegations, not reporting in a timely manner is also expected to be addressed in the fact-finding investigation.

Meanwhile, due to the scandal over A’s inappropriate financial dealings, Hankyoreh’s editor-in-chief Ryu Yi-geun resigned the previous day. Additionally, three registered directors, including CEO Kim Hyun-dae, announced that they will relinquish all authority and step down from management early as soon as the next CEO candidate is decided next month.

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