SEOUL - A former spokesperson for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and two journalists have been indicted on charges of defaming President Yoon Suk Yeol during the last presidential race, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office announced Tuesday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the individuals indicted include Song Pyeong-soo, a former spokesperson for Lee's presidential campaign, and journalists from cable channel JTBC and Repoact. The allegations stem from a series of reports published ahead of the 2022 presidential election, which purportedly contained unfounded claims against Yoon, who was a candidate at the time and subsequently won the election. The Repoact journalist is accused of publishing a report alleging Yoon had lied about his connections to a broker involved in a notorious development scandal, despite Yoon's previous investigations into the broker as a prosecutor. It is alleged that Song provided a falsified voice recording for the story, and the journalist knew the recording was not genuine. The other journalist faces charges for fabricating interviews and falsely reporting that Yoon, during his tenure as a prosecutor, ceased an investigation into the broker at the request of a special counsel, in addition to misleading his superiors a t JTBC.
This indictment is part of a broader prosecutorial investigation into defamation activities targeting Yoon during the electoral campaign. The case continues to develop, with additional investigations involving other journalists from the progressive Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper on similar suspicions of defamation.