SBS 'Unanswered Questions' apologizes for airing allegations linking President Lee to organized crime: "We raised suspicions without evidence"

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Financial News – The production team of the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) current affairs program "Unanswered Questions" has issued an official apology for a report it aired eight years ago that alleged President Lee Jae Myung had ties to organized crime.
On the 20th, the "Unanswered Questions" team released an official statement on its website, saying, "We apologize for having raised suspicions without solid evidence, based on facts such as then-Governor of Gyeonggi Province Lee Jae Myung being listed among the defense attorneys."
The team continued, "After the episode titled 'Power and Gangsters – One Year After the Pattaya Murder Case,' which aired on July 21, 2018, Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi Province opened an investigation. In November 2018, it referred the case to the prosecution with a recommendation not to indict, and the Seongnam Branch Office of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict in December 2018."
They added, "On the 12th, the Supreme Court of Korea finalized a sentence of one year in prison, suspended for two years, for attorney Jang Young-ha, who had claimed ahead of the 2021 presidential election that Lee Jae Myung had ties to organized crime, applying the charge of 'publishing false information under the Public Official Election Act.'"
The "Unanswered Questions" team stated, "The alleged links between then-Governor of Gyeonggi Province Lee Jae Myung and the Seongnam-based International Mafia gang have been legally confirmed to be untrue," and emphasized, "By adhering to the 'SBS Code of Journalism,' which SBS established and began enforcing in 2024, we will strive to produce accurate and objective broadcasts."
Earlier that day, President Lee posted on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "I am curious whether 'Unanswered Questions,' which created the allegations that Lee Jae Myung had ties to organized crime, will readily issue a follow-up report and, if so, what it will say."
He went on, "To prevent a recurrence of politically motivated attempts to bury a person in a grave of lies, there must be reflection and apologies from the People Power Party (PPP), which orchestrated the fabrication, and from fabricated broadcasts like 'Unanswered Questions.' It may be asking too much, but I would like to hear a sincere, simple word of apology: 'We are sorry.'"
unsaid@fnnews.com Kang Myung-yeon Reporter