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Public prosecutors attempt to raid the offices of Newstapa, a news outlet, on Sept. 14 in relation to an interview of Kim Man-bae by Shin Hak-lim that it published ahead of last year’s presidential election. (still from Newstapa on YouTube)

South Korean public prosecutors have begun conducting raids on the offices of Newstapa and JTBC as part of their investigation into alleged election interference in relation to reports published by the media outlets ahead of last year’s presidential election that raised questions about then-candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s possible mishandling of an investigation into the Busan Savings Bank case while a prosecutor.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office’s special investigation team probing the manipulation of public opinion aimed at influencing the presidential election, headed by Kang Baek-sin, sent dozens of prosecutors and investigators to raid Newstapa’s office in Seoul’s Jung District, and JTBC’s office in Seoul’s Mapo District, on Thursday morning.

The residences of Newstapa reporter Han Sang-jin and former JTBC reporter Bong Ji-wook were also raided.

When prosecutors arrived at Newstapa’s headquarters at around 9 am to carry out their search and seizure, they were blocked by staff from the online paper, who stood at the entrances and chanted, “Out with the public prosecutors who clamp down on the free press!”

After more than two hours of confrontation and negotiations, prosecutors entered the building. The prosecutors did not enter JTBC headquarters as the news outlet agreed to hand over the materials listed in the search warrant to the investigation team.

Public prosecutors attempt to raid the offices of Newstapa, a news outlet, on Sept. 14 in relation to an interview of Kim Man-bae by Shin Hak-lim that it published ahead of last year’s presidential election. (still from Newstapa on YouTube)

Prosecutors charged Han, Bong, and other reporters with defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communication Network Utilization and Information Protection, alleging that they reported falsities with the intent to disparage their victim’s reputation. Prosecutors identified Yoon Suk-yeol, the current president, as the victim.

“We believe that the intention to interfere in the presidential election by reporting an interview containing false information just before the election has been confirmed,” an official with the prosecution service commented. “The raid is to investigate the entirety of the case, including the circumstances of the report, any quid pro quo, and the forces behind it.”

In response, Newstapa released a statement.

“This day will go down in history as a day when the ruthless Yoon Suk-yeol administration and the politically aligned prosecutors committed a violent takeover to crush media unfavorable to them,” the statement read. “This marks the beginning of a loyalty contest to appease Yoon Suk-yeol and Yoon Suk-yeol only.”

Eleven media organizations, including the National Union of Media Workers, the Journalists Association of Korea, and the Korea Broadcasting Journalist Association also criticized the move, saying, “Nowhere else will you find a democracy that swears to abide by the rule of law while allowing prosecutors can bullishly raid media outlets and reporters over a single report about the election.”

By Jeon Gwang-joon, staff reporter; Shim Wu-sam, staff reporter; Ko Byung-chan, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]