Police Summon Jeon Hangil Again Over Spreading False Claims About President Lee's Alleged Child Out of Wedlock

Allegations of North Korean Involvement in the May 18 Movement,
Claims of a Fake Degree for Lee Junseok, and More

The police have once again summoned Jeon Hangil, a 55-year-old YouTuber and former Korean history lecturer, who has spread various false claims, such as alleging that President Lee Jaemyung has a child out of wedlock and that North Korea was involved in the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Metropolitan Crime Investigation Unit began questioning Jeon at 11:00 a.m. on July 23 as a suspect on charges including defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act. This is the fourth time he has been summoned for investigation, and the first in three months since last April.

Conservative YouTuber Jeon Hangil is speaking to reporters as he appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, last April. Photo by Yonhap News

Jeon is accused of spreading false information last year through his YouTube channel, including statements such as: "President Lee Jaemyung amassed 160 trillion won in overseas slush funds and handed over military secrets to China," "President Lee has a child out of wedlock," and "Reform New Party Leader Lee Junseok's Harvard degree is fake." At that time, the Democratic Party of Korea and President Lee filed complaints against him, and allegations raised by Jeon—such as the claim that 900,000 barrels of Ulsan oil were sent to North Korea and that "the May 18 movement was an insurrection led by Kim Daejung's faction and North Korea"—are also part of the current investigation.

Prior to the investigation on this day, Jeon held a press conference, flatly denying all charges. He stated, "Last time, the arrest warrant was dismissed because the charges were not sufficient for detention nor were the legal grounds significant," adding, "The six cases under investigation today are, likewise, political retaliation." He went on to say, "On the contrary, I am grateful for the lawsuits and complaints against me," and emphasized, "This is an opportunity to prove the truth and my innocence."

Last April, the police filed for an arrest warrant for Jeon on defamation charges under the Information and Communications Network Act. However, the court rejected the request, stating that there was insufficient concern regarding destruction of evidence or risk of flight.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.