Prosecutors Conduct Search of Lee Jin-dong, Newsbus CEO's Home Over Alleged False Reporting in Presidential Election

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The prosecution has conducted a search and seizure at the residence of Lee Jin-dong, CEO of Newsbus, in connection with the presidential election interference and public opinion manipulation case.

The Special Investigation Team for the 'Presidential Election Interference and Public Opinion Manipulation Case' at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) is carrying out a search and seizure at Lee's residence on the 26th on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act (defamation).

Newsbus is suspected of making false reports suggesting that President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was a leading candidate of the People Power Party in October 2021 when the Daejang-dong scandal intensified, had covered up the case of Jo Woo-hyung, a loan broker involved in the Daejang-dong case, while investigating the 2011 Busan Savings Bank incident.

In an article dated October 21, 2021, Newsbus reported suspicions that the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Investigation Department at the time was aware of Jo's charges but did not verify them, based on a phone conversation with Lee Kang-gil, an early developer of Daejang-dong. The report cited Jo's statements in police investigation records and interviews with Lee, alleging that the Criminal Investigation Department had even tracked Jo and related accounts but did not file charges.

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