탄핵 정국’ 이것이 거짓·선동 보도였다(下)-방송
During the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye, TV networks, especially comprehensive programming channels, relentlessly broadcast unclear information without checking facts before newspaper articles were published, igniting the rage of the Korean people. In particular, Sohn Suk-hee, the president and head news anchor of JTBC, and Lee Jin-dong, a news reporter and manager at TV Chosun, were at the forefront of "killing Park Geun-hye". Channel A also joined the competition for exaggerated news coverage and released a considerable number of false reports. An executive at a comprehensive programming channel did not even hesitate to ludicrously insist in a public meeting that "if Park Geun-hye cannot be overthrown by law, she should be overthrown by public opinion".
Among the many suspicions that flooded comprehensive programming channels during the "impeachment", not many turned out to be true when looking back at the reports that had a particularly great impact. Some of the reports were revealed to be definitely false during the trial. However, it is difficult to find anyone who apologized or took responsibility among the broadcasting executives who joined the wave of distorted news coverage, including JTBC’s Sohn Seok-Hee and TV Chosun’s Lee Jin-Dong.
Sohn Suk-hee, the president and head news anchorman of JTBC (Source: Yonhap News Agency)
● "Sohn Suk-hee of JTBC" played a crucial role in spreading the "Monopoly of fgovernment affairs" framework
During the impeachment process, a "nuclear bomb-level impact" was triggered by JTBC tablet PC coverage in October, 2016. This report greatly influenced newspapers and TV networks, which had refrained from releasing excessive coverage until then, to jump into a war of false and sensational reports, adopting a "do not ask" mentality.
On October 24th, 2016, JTBC began to create suspicions that it had acquired the files of Choi Soon-sil. The questionable tablet PC, which remains unresolved, also appeared during this time. Starting with the article, "acquired the PC files of Choi Soon-sil... she received a speech manuscript prior to a presidential speech" by reporter Kim Pil-jun, JTBC released intensive coverage for three days stating that Choi Soon-sil received documents from the Blue House.
The article, "Choi Soon-sil received the Dresden speech manuscript and interfered with Park Geun-hye's government diplomacy", covered by Kim Tae-yeong, a reporter from JTBC, raised suspicions. It purported to establish the "incompetence" of former president Park and the "influence on government affairs by Choi Soon-sil" as being facts, thus driving the Park Geun-hye government into a corner. However, this report actually turned out to be false. As the result of the investigations, the prosecutor found that the Dresden speech manuscript was never delivered to Choi Soon-sil. There is also no clear evidence for the notion raised by reporter Kim that Choi Soon-sil revised the speech manuscript of President Park with a red pen.
Through the article titled, "▲Choi Soon-sil's tablet PC... Newly appeared executive officer Kim Han-soo", Kim Pil-jun reported that the tablet PC was activated by Kim Han-soo, not Choi Soon-sil. However, JTBC presented poor evidence relating to Kim Han-soo and continued to report allegations with the nuance that Choi Soon-sil was the actual owner of the tablet PC. JTBC edited a photograph of Choi Soon-sil and labeled it as a "selfie", which also turned out to be false.
Kim Pil-jun, a reporter from JTBC, who raised suspicions that Choi Soon-sil received documents from the Blue House, reported based on "Choi Soon-sil's PC files" on both October 24th and 25th, and then changed his focus to "Choi Soon-sil's tablet PC" on October 26th. Throughout the articles by JTBC that raised suspicions for three days from October 24th to 26th, the tablet PC appeared in titles on the last day, October 26th. Besides Kim Pil-jun and Sohn Suk-hee, no one knows why JTBC, which acquired the tablet PC much earlier than initial news coverage, did not make its first report based on the tablet PC.
Prior to this, JTBC released two articles, including ▲Choi Soon-sil's daughter with strange training log as a national equestrian team member (reporter Park Byung-hyun on October 9th, 2016) and ▲”Chung Yoo-ra stated, Samsung plans to sponsor 20 billion KRW" (reporter Shim Su-mi on October 23rd), raising the notion of a connection between Choi Soon-sil & Chung Yoo-ra and Samsung. However, Lee Jae-yong, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, contended that Samsung sponsored the sport as chairman of the Korea Equestrian Federation, not of Chung Yoo-ra personally. In addition, the prosecutor could not prove the correlation between Samsung Electronics helping Chung Yoo-ra, a national equestrian, while sponsoring the Korea Equestrian Federation, with Choi Soon-sil and former president Park Geun-hye. The special prosecutor claimed that Choi Soon-sil and former president Park conspired to receive money from Samsung, and y the claim remained without presenting any evidence.
Prior to the coverage of Choi Soon-sil's "PC files" and "tablet PC" by reporter Kim Pil-jun, reporter Shim Su-mi stated that she "met Ko Young-tae in person" and released the following articles, ▲Testimony of a person close to Choi, "Choi Soon-sil revised presidential speech" (October 19th, 2016) and ▲"Glance of the influencer behind-the-scenes" Ko Young-tae, "Choi Soon-sil's hobby is revising speech manuscripts" (October 20th, 2016).
However, reporter Shim Su-mi never verified the claims that the influencer behind-the-scenes of President Park Geun-hye was Choi Soon-sil, and that the influencer behind-the-scenes of Choi Soon-sil was Ko Young-tae. Furthermore, in her report, reporter Sim revealed in her report that she did not hear the story of Choi Soon-sil from Ko Young-tae.
Reporter Shim Su-mi confessed the shortcomings of her coverage by stating, "according to Ko Young-tae, the chairman's favorite hobby is revising speeches. However, Mr. Ko did not mention Choi Soon-sil or the Blue House directly. Mr. Lee, a former key member of the Mir Foundation who was close to Mr. Ko, additionally explained that the chairman referred to Choi Soon-sil and the speeches referred to as those of president Park Geun-hye."
President Sohn Suk-hee was the final coordinator of coverage focus and content for JTBC. Although he provided a "glorious contribution" to the impeachment, he was the main protagonist who recently caused difficulties with cancelled subscriptions at the parent company, JoongAng Ilbo.
<JTBC Coverage on October 24th, 2016>
<JTBC Coverage on October 24th, 2016>
▲"44 speeches" received prior to the announcement... Including the top secret "Dresden" (reporter Kim Tae-yeong)
▲Excerpt from the speech manuscript marked in "red", the actual speech was different (reporter Kim Tae-yeong)
▲Cabinet meeting data and first local government activity report in advance... (reporter Park Byung-hyun)
▲Aware of "secretarial staff replacement" in advance... Written by the closest adviser to the president (reporter Sohn Yong-seok)
▲Captured the circumstances of Choi Soon-sil "revising core documents of the Blue House" (reporter Lee Hee-jeong)
▲Shocking "Choi Soon-sil files" beyond common sense... How can this happen (reporter Seo Bok-hyeon)
▲Choi Soon-sil obtained presidential campaign and election victory speeches in advance (reporter Park Byung-hyun)
▲Received "data for TV debates and advertising videos for the presidential election" in advance (reporter Baek Jong-hoon)
▲Received three days prior to the official presidential announcement (reporter Shin Jin)
▲How we acquired the problematic "Choi Soon-sil files"... Revealed the process (reporter Seo Bok-hyeon)
<JTBC Coverage on October 25th, 2016>
▲Choi Soon-sil received the scenario of "private consultation for the president-elect" with MB (reporter Shim Su-mi)
▲National security confidentiality of "secret contact with the National Defense Commission of North Korea" also went to Choi Soon-sil... (reporter Nam Goong-wook)
▲Circumstances showed that Choi Soon-sil intervened in human resource affairs and government organizations of the Blue House (reporter Choi Gyu-jin)
▲From security to various policies... Controversy of violating president record management laws (reporter Park Min-kyu)
▲What are the legal issues of the "Choi Soon-sil files" from "document leakage of the Blue House"? (reporter Jo Taek-su)
▲Suspicion of Choi Soon-sil's intervention in selecting an agency for the presidential inauguration (reporter Park Byung-hyun)
▲"Obangnang (a five-colored pouch)" appeared in the Choi Soon-sil files, one month prior to the inauguration ceremony (reporter Kim Pil-jun)
▲From the symbol of the Commission on Presidential Transition to the inauguration stamp... Traces of Choi Soon-sil everywhere (reporter Kim Tae-yeong)
▲Undisclosed "vacation" photos of president Park appeared too (reporter Yoon Saem-i-na)
▲Even the vacation destinations, which were kept confidential due to security reasons... Choi Soon-sil knew her entire schedule (reporter Lee Seo-jun)
▲Official documents of government ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the hands of Choi Soon-sil... (reporter Kim Pil-jun)
▲Work of acquiring the regime, including "private consultation with MB"... Circumstances showed Choi Soon-sil intervened in every corner (reporter Lee Hee-jeong)
▲"Omnidirectional document leakage" of Park Geun-hye government diplomacy, security and human resources (reporter Seo Bok-hyeon)
▲"Undisclosed" vacation photos of the president discovered... Prior vacation report (reporter Park Byung-hyun)
<JTBC Coverage on October 26th, 2016>
▲Choi Soon-sil's tablet PC... Newly appeared executive officer Kim Han-soo (reporter Kim Pil-jun)
▲Executive officer Kim Han-soo worked during the presidential election... Nicknamed "team leader Han" (reporter Park Byung-hyun)
▲Choi Soon-sil viewed through her tablet PC. Was she an actual "chief of the presidential camp"? (reporter Lee Hee-jeong)
▲Unveiled selfies of Choi Soon-sil... Why we paid attention to the tablet PC, "pandora's box" (reporter Kim Tae-yeong)
▲Author ID of "Choi Soon-sil files" belongs to presidential secretary Jeong Ho-seong (reporter Lee Ga-hyuk)
▲Other IDs... Systematically "written and leaked"? (reporter Lee Sun-hwa)
▲Even sensitive diplomatic matters... "Don't mention Dokdo to Japanese special envoy" (reporter Seo Bok-hyeon)
▲Even "top secret" diplomatic documents... How much did Choi Soon-sil obtain? (reporter Seo Bok-hyeon)
▲Photos, IDs and phone numbers... Traces in Choi Soon-sil's tablet PC (reporter Kim Tae-yeong)
▲[Fact Check] How did documents with "impregnable security" leak from the Blue House? (reporter Oh Dae-young)
● Lee Jin-dong at TV Chosun formed a back-scratching alliance with Ko Young-tae
Reporter Lee Jin-dong, a manager at TV Chosun, reported suspicions regarding Kim Jong, former vice minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, on July 6th; Cha Eun-taek and President Park Geun-hye on July 11th and 13th; the Mir Foundation and Ahn Jong-beom on July 26th; and the K-Sports Foundation and the Mir Foundation on August 2nd. Reporter Lee collected data on Choi Soon-sil, Ko Young-tae and Cha Eun-taek for a year and nine months after securing Ko Young-tae as his source in October 2014. All the suspicions regarding Kim Jong, Cha Eun-taek, Choi Soon-sil and President Park Geun-hye were based on the claims of Ko Young-tae.
Detailed reports by TV Chosun in July and August 2016 include, ▲Invited to every event by the president...Cultural crown prince, Cha Eun-taek (July 13th, reporter Lee Jae-joong), ▲Crippling covert fights within "the Mir Foundation"... Who is the owner? (July 26th, reporter Lee Jae-joong), ▲Cultural crown prince, Cha Eun-taek, influenced "the Mir Foundation" (July 27th, reporter Jung Dong-kwon), ▲"Cha Eun-taek" boasts of "late-night private consultation with the president" (July 28th, reporter Jung Dong-kwon), ▲Minutes of the Mir Foundation and the K-Sports Foundation are carbon copies... Is the mastermind the same person? (August 3rd, reporter Lee Sang-bae), ▲The K-Sports Foundation participated in a presidential tour (August 4th, reporter Song Ji-wook), ▲The Mir Foundation participated in a presidential tour task force... Was it an organization of the influencer behind-the-scenes? (August 11th, reporter Song Ji-wook), and ▲President Park who appears in every event of the Mir Foundation and the K-Sports Foundation (August 12th, reporter Lee Jae-joong).
TV Chosun never covered Choi Soon-sil, the core of this case, and Ko Young-tae, a source of reporter Lee Jin-dong. Although reporter Lee gathered information on Choi Soon-sil for one year and nine months through Ko Young-tae, his reason for writing an article with only the framework of connecting Cha Eun-taek and President Park remains unclear.
In addition, reporter Lee Jin-dong even instructed Ko Young-tae to install a hidden camera in the garment studio of President Park. It is obvious that reporter Lee initially targeted "Choi Soon-sil and Park Geun-hye", rather than "Cha Eun-taek and Park Geun-hye".
On October 27th, 2016, Lee Jin-dong partially unveiled hidden camera footage in the garment studio collected by Ko Young-tae, and reported that "Choi Soon-sil paid for garments of president Park Geun-hye". Reporter Ha Nu-ri, who wrote the article, mentioned at the end that "whether the source of money is the Blue House budget or Choi's personal wallet, the impact will not be easy." This report supported the claim of an "economic community where Choi Soon-sil and President Park Geun-hye shared a wallet". However, the claim of "economic community" itself was unreasonable.
TV Chosun published five intensive articles from November 8th, 2016 to November 9th, 2016, citing a claim that president Park Geun-hye was a puppet of Choi Tae-min and Choi Soon-sil. The titles of the articles are ▲Who is Cho Soon-je? How did the transcripts exist? (November 8th, reporter Kang Sang-koo), ▲Cho Soon-je's voice, "Park Geun-hye is 100% puppet" (November 8th, reporter Shin Jeong-hun), ▲Cho Soon-je's voice, "Choi Tae-min received a bundle of money soon after the death of Park Chung-hee" (November 8th, reporter Uhm Sung-seob), ▲Choi Tae-min, influenced Park Geun-hye to be "the Empress" since she was first daughter (November 9th, reporter Jang Min-sung), and ▲"Choi family provided a housekeeper and sponsored the election fund for President Park" (November 9th, reporter Kim Kyung-hwa). All of these articles were based on the unilateral assertions of Cho Soon-je, who was known as the stepson of Choi Tae-min.
It is not easy to verify the suspicions raised by reporter Lee Jin-dong, including "the Blue House involvement in the Mir Foundation and the K-Sports Foundation" or "Park Geun-hye being a puppet of Choi Tae-min and Choi Soon-sil". During the investigations, seven business executives from Hyundai Motors, CJ, SK, Samsung, LG, Hanwha and Hanjin whom President Park Geun-hye met with, stated that "we have never heard an order from the president to pay a contribution to the Mir Foundation and the K-Sports Foundation". The allegations raised by Lee Jin-dong were revealed to be unverified. The framework of Choi Tae-min and Choi Soon-sil was also a topic that could not be actively claimed by the Lee Myung-bak camp in 2007 due to unverified factual grounds.
Lee Jin-dong, a reporter from TV Chosun (TV Chosun screenshot)
● "Parade of false media coverage" by Channel A that belatedly jumped in
Kim Eui-tae, a reporter from Channel A, released an article titled, ▲Ministry of Strategy and Finance began thorough investigation on budget related to Choi Soon-sil, on October 26th, 2016. Reporter Kim Eui-tae made a conclusion without any evidence that the Mir Foundation and the K-Sports Foundation belonged to Choi Soon-sil; and reported that the Ministry of Strategy and Finance was investigating the money contributed to the two foundations. However, within one day this turned out to be false. On October 27th, the day after the article by reporter Kim was released, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced that "the media coverage by Kim Eui-tae, a reporter from Channel A, was false and without factual grounds."
After the false report, Channel A released two articles based on the unilateral claims of an unidentified person. Reporter Choi Seok-ho published an article on November 1st, 2016, claiming that ▲Choi Soon-sil even slept at the presidential residence in the Blue House▲. A day after on November 2nd, reporter Lee Sang-hee wrote an article titled, ▲Two beds went to the presidential residence in the Blue House▲, based on the article written by Choi Seok-ho. Both articles were based on the allegations of an unidentified person, claiming to be a "former high-ranking official at the Blue House". The Blue House announced that both articles of Channel A were not true.
On November 15th, 2016, Kim Nam-jun, a reporter from Channel A, released another hunch, insinuating the close relationship between President Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil with ▲Testimony of "Choi Soon-sil riding in the presidential plane". Kim Nam-jun insisted that a current official at the Blue House had verified this claim, unlike previous reporters. However, when the Blue House questioned the "identity of the individual who confirmed", Kim Nam-jun failed to answer.
The Blue House explained that Choi Soon-sil was not on the passenger list of the presidential aircraft, and that approximately 70 reporters had accompanied the presidential tour. The Blue House asked Kim Nam-jun why no reporter had witnessed Choi Soon-sil, but he didn't answer.
Currently, the article by Kim Nam-jun, a reporter from Channel A, titled ▲Testimony of "Choi Soon-sil riding in the presidential plane", cannot be found on the Channel A website. It seems that Channel A quietly deleted the article without any official explanation or apology for the obviously false report.
Reporter Yoon Hee-seong (uniflow84@pennmike.com)
Reporter Seong Ki-woong (skw424@pennmike.com)
Reporter Lee Se-yeong (lsy215@pennmike.com)
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