SEOUL– The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol said Friday it will press criminal charges against a former defense ministry spokesman and two reporters for making allegedly false claims of a fortune teller’s involvement in the relocation of the presidential residence.
The move comes a day after media outlet News Tomato quoted former defense ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan as saying the fortune teller, known as Cheongong, was involved in the relocation process last March.
The presidential office said it will press charges against Boo and two reporters — one from News Tomato and another from the Hankook Ilbo — for raising the allegation and reporting it without verifying the facts, respectively.
The complaint will be filed with the police later Friday.
“Raising absurd fake allegations that a fortune teller was involved in the decision process is an insult to public servants and the people, and a malicious frame,” the presidential office said.
“The presidential office has stated several times that we will respond with consistent criteria to actions of creating and spreading fake news in a malicious and repeated manner,” it said.
Relocating the presidential office was one of Yoon’s campaign pledges. After the office’s move to the former defense ministry compound in central Seoul, the presidential residence was also moved to what used to be the foreign minister’s residence.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) urged Yoon to address the issue rather than pressing charges against the people who raised the allegations.
“Is it because they are afraid of the people’s suspicions and concerns surrounding the close relationship between the president, his wife and Cheongong?” Rep. Park Chan-dae, a member of the DP’s Supreme Council, said. “The president should clarify and speak on the issue himself.”
DP Rep. Jung Sung-ho called on the presidential office to disclose closed-circuit television footage of the relocation site, saying that doing so would easily resolve the issue.
Source: Yonhap News Agency