Former journalist denies 2022 election manipulation

“I don’t think [Yoon Suk Yeol] was in the position as the head of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Central Investigation Department to do so,” Kim said, referring to accusations against Yoon stopped an investigation in 2011.

Kim Man-bae answers questions in front of the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi, where he was released on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Kim Man-bae, a former journalist and a central figure in the controversial Daejang-dong development scheme, has denied allegations that he tried to manipulate the last presidential election through a fabricated interview.

"I am not a person who has such ability," Kim said Thursday in front of Seoul Detention Center, from which he was released.

Kim had been detained since February.

"I never urged an interview and thought that Shin Hak-lim had left the media industry long ago," Kim said, referring to the former journalist and chairman of the National Union of Media Workers of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, who recorded the conversation.

Kim claimed he was unaware that he was being recorded.

“I believe Shin Hak-lim should apologize [for recording me in secret],” Kim said.

Kim, however, acknowledge that he paid 165 million won ($125,000) for three books authored by Shin, describing them as having significant value akin to works of art.

“Not only is he an exceptional journalist, but also it was his life-long work,” Kim said. “I believe the books have that much value.”

The prosecutors' office suspects that the substantial payment Kim made to Shin was, in fact, a bribe intended to facilitate the fabrication of an interview to implicate the People Power Party's presidential candidate at the time, Yoon Suk Yeol.

Upon his release, Kim contradicted suggestions he made in the controversial recorded conversation that Yoon created the Daejang-dong scandal by quashing an investigation into an illegal loan in 2011 later used to fund the Daejang-dong development project.

“I don’t think [Yoon Suk Yeol] was in the position as the head of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Central Investigation Department to do so,” Kim said.

The prosecutors' office recently initiated an investigation into Kim's alleged attempt to manipulate the election through the fabricated interview recorded in September 2021.

The controversial interview was published just after the Daejang-dong scandal in Seongnam came to light, just ahead of the 2022 presidential race.

The Democratic Party was in a heated primary race between Lee Nak-yon, the former Moon Jae-in administration’s prime minister, and Lee Jae-myung, who was at the time Gyeonggi governor.

The Daejang-dong development scandal posed a significant risk to Lee Jae-myung amid speculation he abused his authority as Seongnam mayor at the time to help Kim and his fellow investors.

The DP leader and his close aides are accused of being promised to a substantial share of the profits to create a political slush fund for paying presidential primary expenses.

However, Lee continues to deny these allegations.

The investigators are particularly looking into the timing of the recorded conversation’s release.

The conversation was recorded in September 2021, but liberal media outlet Newstapa released it on March 6, just three days before election. Shin Hak-lim, the individual who recorded the conversation, is affiliated with Newstapa.

With little time to authenticate its claims, the interview potentially could have swayed voters in favor of Lee Jae-myung.

In the recording, Kim claimed that in 2011, Yoon, who was investigating an illegal loan scandal, did not interrogate a key broker, Cho Woo-hyung, and instead offered him a cup of coffee.

Kim alleged that the illegal funds were used as seed funding for the Daejang-dong development.

Investigators are reportedly examining the possibility that former journalist Kim and DP leader Lee Jae-myung collaborated to manipulate public opinion.

During a debate in February 2022, Lee accused Yoon of aiding the Daejang-dong profiteers by suppressing the illegal loan investigation.

“You are the one that profited from them [the Daejang-dong profiteers],” Lee said during the debate, referring to Yoon’s father selling his real estate property to Kim’s sister.

“Why did you serve Cho Woo-hyung a coffee?” Lee asked.

On Wednesday, PPP lawmaker Lee Chul-gyu accused Lee Jae-myung of deleting posts on his Facebook that recommended his followers share and spread Kim’s recorded conversation against Yoon.

“Suddenly postings on Lee Jae-myung’s Facebook have disappeared,” the PPP lawmaker claimed on his Facebook. “I wonder why the postings between Jan. 26, 2022 and March 8 were deleted.”

The DP chief criticized the PPP for accusing him of manipulating the election.

“It is blatantly ignorant and shameless,” Lee said while appearing on CBS news radio. “If you want to talk about an election fabrication, the PPP quoted a gangster to frame me for receiving 2 billion won from organized crime,” Lee said.

Former journalist Shin Hak-lim at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, on Thursday. He was summoned for questions regarding a recorded conversation between him and Kim Man-bae in September 2021. [YONHAP]

On Thursday, Shin Hak-lim appeared for questioning at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

Prosecutors are reportedly considering charges against former journalist Shin for improper solicitation and graft.

Both Kim and Shin previously worked at the same newspaper, the Hankook Ilbo, with Shin joining in 1984 and Kim in 1992.

Kim’s release on Thursday marks his second release, as he was previously detained in February for attempting to destroy or conceal evidence related to the ill-gotten profits from the Daejang-dong development.

He was initially released in November 2021 after spending a year in prison.

Although the prosecutors had sought to extend his detention for another six months based on newly discovered evidence related to public opinion manipulation, the court denied the request.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]