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| ▲ Kim Man-bae is asked questions outside a court in Seoul on Sept. 8, 2023. (Yonhap) |
fake interview suspect-probe
Fake interview suspect said to have denied knowing Yoon
SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) -- Kim Man-bae, a key suspect in allegations that he purposely faked an interview in 2021 to discredit then opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol, denied key parts of his interview, including being an acquaintance with Yoon, during subsequent questioning by prosecutors, effectively admitting to the falsity of the interview, informed judicial officials said Tuesday.
Kim, a journalist-turned-property developer, is currently on trial for his role in the scandal-ridden Daejang-dong development project pushed in the mid-2010s by opposition leader Lee Jae-myung as the mayor of Seongnam.
In the September 2021 interview with journalist Shin Hak-lim, Kim made remarks to the effect that Yoon was the mastermind behind the Daejang-dong scandal, and the interview was reported by online news outlet Newstapa on March 6, 2022, just three days before the presidential election, confusing voters.
Prosecutors have recently launched a full-scale investigation into the case after finding that Kim paid 165 million won (US$123,500) to Shin soon after the interview. Both Kim and Shin have denied any intention to influence the presidential election, saying the interview was just a private conversation.
According to the judicial officials, Kim admitted during the prosecution's interrogation on Dec. 3, 2021, that he was not acquainted with Yoon back in 2011, when he was in charge of an investigation into corruption cases related to Busan Savings Bank. In the conversation with Shin, however, Kim spoke as if he personally knew Yoon and his fellow prosecutors and helped foil their investigation into a loan broker named Jo Woo-hyung.
Jo was again investigated by prosecutors later as a loan broker in the Daejang-dong scandal.
Kim also reversed his interview remarks on Jo being served coffee by Yoon at the prosecution's office. In the prosecution interrogation, Kim said he cannot exactly remember the circumstances, except that Jo actually received the coffee from a prosecution employee, not Yoon.
Kim also told prosecutors in June that he was just bluffing to appear powerful in front of Shin and his interview remarks were "seasoned," according to the judicial officials.
Prosecutors suspect that Kim has adopted a strategy of dismissing the interview as a private conversation and a bluff and denying collusion with Shin or Newstapa in the reporting of the interview.
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