Civic group files complaint with Seoul Metropolitan Police, saying Yu's remarks 'contradict objective facts'

Writer Yu Si-min. [Yonhap]
Writer Yu Si-min. [Yonhap]

Writer Yu Si-min has been reported to police after claiming that President Lee Jae Myung had "deceived the public" over his prosecution reform agenda.

A civic group called Sabeop Jeongui Baroseugi Simin Haengdong filed a complaint Monday with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, accusing Yu of defamation through the posting of false information under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

Kim Han-me, the group's standing representative, said Yu appeared on the YouTube channel of media outlet Media Today on Tuesday and made remarks about the Lee administration's prosecution reform drive. Yu said at the time that while the phrases "separation of investigation and indictment" and "prosecution reform" had been used together, "the content was different — the president has been deceiving the public all along." Kim argued those remarks constituted false statements of fact.

Yu had made the comments in connection with a recent press conference held by President Lee, saying he was "shocked" to hear Lee describe splitting the prosecution into an investigative arm and an indictment arm within the Ministry of Justice as the maximum achievable goal of prosecution reform. "That is wrong and untrue," Yu said. "I had never once heard such a thing said."

Kim said defamation through false statements of fact can be established even when a person fails to exercise minimal care to verify the truth, and that the offense also covers cases of willful blindness. "Yu stated false facts to the effect that President Lee had deceived the public and effectively obstructed prosecution reform, thereby damaging the president's social reputation and honor," Kim said.

In the complaint, Kim wrote that recalling President Lee's conduct of state affairs over the past year — witnessed by the vast majority of the public through live broadcasts of Cabinet meetings and press conferences — "Yu's remarks contradict objective facts and border on delusion."

Kim also urged police to conduct a thorough investigation, saying Yu had spread false information to reinforce his standing as a "big speaker" within the liberal-progressive camp while pushing his political views on the public. "The constitutional principle of equality before the law must not be applied differently to a prominent voice of the ruling camp, further eroding public trust in the criminal justice system," Kim said.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com