'Alleged Defamation of Yoon' Kyunghyang Shinmun Former and Current Reporters Cleared

[Financial News] Former and current reporters from Kyunghyang Shinmun, accused of reporting false information about former President Yoon Seok-yeol during the 20th presidential election, have been cleared of charges.
Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Joon-dong) announced on the 27th that they decided not to prosecute four former and current Kyunghyang Shinmun reporters, including reporter Jeong Mo (currently an editorial writer), due to insufficient evidence for charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act (defamation).
The prosecution suspected that these four reporters intentionally reported false information about former President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was a leading presidential candidate for the People Power Party in October 2021, when the 'Daejang-dong scandal' was emerging. The prosecution claimed there was evidence that the collected materials were intentionally distorted contrary to the facts.
Kyunghyang Shinmun stated in this regard, "At no point during the entire process of reporting and coverage did we engage in any actions that would violate journalistic ethics."
At that time, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported allegations that former President Yoon, while serving as the head of the Central Investigation Division 2 of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in 2011, conducted an inadequate investigation into Jo Woo-hyung, a broker for loans related to the Busan Savings Bank case. 


kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-kyu Reporter