Court on 'Yoon Defamation' Case: "Too Many Indirect Circumstances in the Indictment"

Court: "'Lee Jae-myung Communist Party Frame' What Does It Have to Do with Yoon's Defamation?"
Prosecution: "Content Necessary to Prove Motive for the Crime"

In the first trial of the case involving allegations of false reporting defaming President Yoon Suk-yeol, the court pointed out that the indictment included many indirect circumstantial facts.

Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, who is accused of defaming President Yoon Seok-yeol through a false interview related to the Daejang-dong incident in the last presidential election, is heading to the courtroom to attend the warrant hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 20th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Heo Kyung-moo) raised issues with the 'Lee Jae-myung Communist Party frame' included in the indictment during the first pretrial hearing on the 31st for Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, and Shin Hak-rim, former chairman of the Media Union.

The court said, "We do not understand what relation the 'Lee Jae-myung Communist Party frame' has with the core issue of defamation against President Yoon," adding, "If the charge was spreading false information under the Public Official Election Act, this content might be appropriate, but should this be included in a defamation case?"

Here, the Communist Party frame refers to the core allegation that Kim and others spread false information claiming that "Lee Jae-myung took away profits that should have gone to private contractors for the benefit of Seongnam City," in order to cover up corruption in the Daejang-dong development project.

The court further pointed out, "The indictment contains content related to the Daejang-dong development project, such as 'collusion with then Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung' and 'obtaining astronomical profits from the development project,'" emphasizing, "These are matters currently under trial and are not yet established facts."

In response, the prosecution stated, "We judged that these contents must be sufficiently explained to prove Kim's motive and intent," and added, "We will review and clarify the expressions later."

On the same day, Kim's defense attorney denied all related charges, stating, "Kim had no plan to create unfavorable public opinion against then-candidate Yoon Suk-yeol through false reporting." Shin's side also claimed, "The prosecution's indictment is nothing more than a sandcastle built on unverified facts."

The defense attorneys for NewsTapa CEO Kim Yong-jin and reporter Han Sang-jin, who were jointly indicted for reporting false information in collusion with Shin, argued, "The prosecution does not have the authority to initiate an investigation into defamation crimes under the Information and Communications Network Act," claiming that the indictment itself is illegal.

The court plans to hold another pretrial hearing on the 23rd of next month to organize specific issues.

Kim and Shin were arrested and indicted on the 8th of this month on charges of defaming President Yoon by reporting false information related to the Busan Savings Bank investigation and receiving 165 million won in return.

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