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| Prosecutors confront workers of online news outlet Newstapa at its office in central Seoul, Thursday, as the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office attempted to enter the office in order to seize materials in connection with an allegation of reporting misinformation via an interview conducted in 2021 to discredit then opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol. Yonhap |
By Lee Hae-rin
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned on Thursday Korea's prosecution and the ruling party's intimidation and harassment of news media organizations for allegedly reporting misinformation in an interview which the government claims discredited then-presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office dispatched prosecutors and investigators to online news outlet Newstapa and cable channel JTBC, both of which are headquartered in Seoul, Thursday, to seize materials related to their coverage of the interview.
Prosecutors also searched the homes of a Newstapa reporter whose surname is Han and a former JTBC reporter whose surname is Bong.
"These raids and investigations against media outlets are the latest in a concerning trend of media rights violations led by the incumbent government in the Republic of Korea. The IFJ urges the prosecutors to withdraw all investigations against Newstapa, JTBC and the outlets' journalists, and calls on the People Power Party to ensure that press freedom is upheld and protected," the IFJ said in a statement.
The Journalists Associations of Korea (JAK) echoed the IFJ.
"We express concern about the increasing intensity of the government's media suppression as we approach next year's general elections," JAK President Kim Dong-hoon said.
Kim pointed out that the ruling party "targeted political commentators who wrote articles about the story" and "filed defamation complaints against radio hosts who reported on the incident."
"The JAK, along with other major media organizations, is committed to staunchly opposing the ruling party's endeavors to manipulate the media and will dedicate its collective efforts to safeguarding press freedom," Kim said.
The issue centers on the allegation that Kim Man-bae, a key figure in the Daejang-dong development project scandal pushed in the 2010s by then-rival candidate Lee Jae-myung, conspired with Newstapa-affiliated journalist Shin Hak-lim in September 2021 to release false claims via an interview alleging Yoon's connection to the corruption scandal.
Newstapa and JTBC reported the interview last March, just three days before the presidential election, triggering a heated political controversy.
Kim paid 165 million won ($123,500) to Shin after the interview but denied any intention to influence the election, claiming it was a "private conversation."
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