No 'Yoon Seok-yeol Coffee' in Kim Man-bae's Transcript... 'Presidential Election Manipulation' Suspicion Amplified After Full Disclosure

Kim "Met with Prosecutor Park"... News Coverage Portrays Yoon's 'Lenient Investigation'
Newstapa Omits 'Kim Man-bae-Shin Hak-rim Conversation' Unrelated to Yoon
Prosecution Considers Applying Defamation Charges Over Election Law Statute of Limitations Expiry

After Newstapa released the full transcript of the conversation between Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, and Shin Hak-rim, former chairman of the Korean Federation of Journalists' Unions, on the 7th, suspicions have intensified that fake news was produced for public opinion manipulation ahead of last year's presidential election.

Amid a rapid prosecution investigation into the 'false interview tip-off' allegations and Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reviewing whether Newstapa violated the Newspaper Act, it appears Newstapa released the conversation transcript to quell the suspicions. However, this move seems to have added fuel to the fire instead.

Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, was released on the morning of the 7th after the expiration of his detention period and is answering questions from the press outside Seoul Detention Center.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Newstapa edited and reported an interview titled '[Kim Man-bae Voice File] Resolving the Busan Savings Bank Case through Park Young-soo and Yoon Seok-yeol' on the evening of March 6 last year, three days before the presidential election. When suspicions arose recently that this interview was false and intended to manipulate election public opinion, Newstapa stated, "We will let the citizens judge," and released the unedited 72-minute interview audio file and the full transcript. However, the transcript revealed that there was no mention of President Yoon investigating Cho, which has further intensified the suspicions.

On the 7th, the prosecution formed a special investigation team for the 'Presidential Election Interference and Public Opinion Manipulation Case' consisting of about 10 prosecutors led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. The investigation team mainly comprises prosecutors from the Anti-Corruption Division 3, along with prosecutors from the Public Investigation Division and Criminal Division 1, who have expertise in election and defamation cases. The special investigation team plans to swiftly investigate the false interview allegations.

This matter involves allegations of violating the Public Official Election Act by attempting to influence the presidential election through fake news. However, since the statute of limitations of six months has passed, the prosecution is considering applying other charges such as defamation by publication. The inclusion of prosecutors with expertise in defamation cases in the special investigation team is also for this purpose.

According to the transcript, Kim explained to Shin that Cho had been investigated by the Central Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regarding the Busan Savings Bank case, saying, "(When Cho Woo-hyung went to the prosecutors,) they gave him a cup of coffee and said, 'We heard everything, right? You heard it, right, man?' and then sent him off." When Shin asked, "Who? Prosecutor Park OO?" Kim replied, "Yoon Seok-yeol said, 'Are you Cho Woo-hyung?'" This part was a key focus in Newstapa's report last year, which raised suspicions of President Yoon's lenient investigation.

However, Newstapa omitted the subsequent conversation between Kim and Shin from the report. When Shin asked, "Are you saying Yoon Seok-yeol sent him?" Kim said, "Prosecutor Park gave him coffee, did something, and then sent him off. So the case disappeared." Kim vaguely described the prosecutor who served coffee to Cho. Newstapa admitted that "there was a somewhat unclear aspect in how this was handled."

Kim then changed his story in the following conversation. When Shin asked again, "When you introduced Park Young-soo, the lawyer, to Cho Woo-hyung, did Park Young-soo call Yoon Seok-yeol, and then Cho went to have coffee with Prosecutor Park? Or did he have coffee with Yoon Seok-yeol?" Kim replied, "No, (Cho Woo-hyung) went alone. The staff served the coffee there. How could he have coffee with the prosecutor? They just put it there, and he left without drinking it." This conversation was omitted from Newstapa's report last year. Despite knowing this conversation, which effectively denies that President Yoon ever served coffee to Cho or conducted a lenient investigation, Newstapa maliciously edited the content.

The prosecution is reportedly planning to secure the custody of Kim and Shin soon to prevent them from coordinating their stories regarding the interview circumstances.

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