[KH Explains] The collapse of press-prosecution conspiracy narrative

Han Dong-hoon, a high-ranking prosecutor and a close associate of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, was cleared Wednesday of accusations of collusion with members of the press.

The findings come after two years of investigation into the claim that Han conspired with two reporters to threaten a news source into making a false accusation against a key Democrati Party of Korea ally, Rhyu Si-min. The two reporters at Channel A, a broadcast owned by Dong-A Ilbo, one of the country’s most-read newspapers, were earlier found not guilty in the first trial in July last year.

When the collusion claims were still fresh in July 2020, Rhyu said in a radio interview that he suspects then-Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol of involvement.

“Han is a longtime colleague of the prosecutor general, and his trusted aide,” he said. “It’s very likely that Yoon is behind it.”

At the time Rhyu, who was a member of the late Democratic Party President Roh Moo-hyun’s Cabinet, was serving as the chief director of Roh Moo-hyun Foundation. He claimed that Seoul prosecutors were looking into the bank account of the foundation established in the late president’s honor.

Roh is a central figure in understanding the history of the Democratic Party’s hostility toward the press and the prosecution.

Roh fell to his death in an apparent suicide in 2009 as the prosecution launched investigation into the corruption scandal involving his family. The Roh investigation has since been put on hold indefinitely. 

His death triggered the left’s antagonization of the press and the prosecution. 

As president, Roh had a rocky relationship with reporters. He openly denounced coverage he was unhappy with, and pushed ahead with a pressroom restructuring plan that resulted in a drastic reduction of reporters’ access to government offices and officials.

President Moon Jae-in, who was elected after two consecutive conservative administrations, clung to Roh’s legacy and made reform of the press and the prosecution his top policy agenda.

From Moon’s four justice ministers to prominent lawmakers and others with party allegiance, the ruling party and its allies have accused news institutions of right-wing bias and colluding with prosecutors over the past five years.

Rep. Kim Du-kwan, who was Roh’s interior minister, said in a letter to his fellow Democratic Party lawmakers that the prosecution “schemed with the press and abused its investigative powers” and “murdered the former president.”

In the letter Kim called for Yoon’s impeachment as top prosecutor, citing the investigation against Cho Kuk, a close Moon aide who served briefly as justice minister in 2019.

Stepping down from the ministerial post, Cho, who was at the center of Moon administration’s clash with the prosecution, referred to himself as “kindling for firing up the prosecution reform drive.”

Although the former justice minister often presented himself as the target of an unjust investigation, the charges against his family have been found to be true. His wife is serving a four-year prison term, and his daughter recently lost her medical and undergraduate degrees after fraud in the application process was confirmed.

In a statement Wednesday evening, Channel A’s labor union called on the company to bring back two reporters who lost their jobs in June 2020 as the collusion claims surfaced.

After court found Channel A reporters to be innocent last year, national public broadcaster KBS apologized for reporting on the false claim.

In 2019, KBS was accused by its own labor union of demoting reporters for running unfavorable stories on Cho. The union said reporters faced pressure to report less on the Moon aide despite ongoing probes, and give administration-friendly coverage.

Wednesday’s development should mark the closure of the longstanding narrative of a press-prosecution collusion. But the yearslong investigation isn’t enough to put the story to death.

Rhyu, who is facing a possible jail term over slander against Han, on Thursday questioned the proceedings of the investigation that concluded the prosecutor was innocent. Also on this day Justice Minister Park Beom-kye told reporters that “the collusion case is far from over.”

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)