Prosecution Dismisses Defamation Charges Against Assemblyman Busungchan Over 'Cheongong Scandal' Allegations

The prosecution has decided not to indict Assemblyman Busungchan of the Democratic Party of Korea on defamation charges, stating that the allegations of defamation related to the ‘Cheongong scandal’ are not recognized.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (acting chief prosecutor Kim Hokyung) announced on the 23rd that a total of six people—including Assemblyman Bu, former Justice Party lawmaker Kim Jongdae, and journalists who reported on the related suspicions—have been cleared of defamation charges under the Information and Communications Network Act.

Assemblyman Bu, who served as the final spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense under the Moon Jae-in administration, had claimed in media interviews and in his own book that the self-proclaimed spiritual adviser Cheongong was involved in the relocation of the presidential residence under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. He was reported by the presidential office under the Yoon administration in December 2022. Bu asserted that on April 1, 2022, he heard from former Army Chief of Staff Nam Youngshin that ‘Cheongong, along with a senior official from the Presidential Transition Committee, visited the Army Chief of Staff’s official residence in Hannam-dong and the Army Seoul Office.’

In the case of former lawmaker Kim Jongdae, he was also reported after raising related suspicions on the TBS radio program ‘Kim Eo-jun’s News Factory,’ which was hosted by broadcaster Kim Eo-jun.

Boo Seung-chan, a member-elect of the Democratic Party, is giving an interview to The Asia Business Daily at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which investigated the case, referred it to the prosecution in 2023, stating that Cheongong had not visited the Army Chief of Staff’s official residence or the Army Seoul Office located on the grounds of the Ministry of National Defense, and that Assemblyman Bu’s claims therefore did not correspond to the facts. Specifically, they concluded that Bu and others had defamed Kim Yonghyun, a former deputy team leader of the Presidential Transition Committee’s Blue House Relocation Task Force (TF) and later Minister of National Defense under President Yoon Suk Yeol. It was later revealed that the person who actually visited the Army Chief of Staff’s official residence was Baek Jae-kwon, a geomancy expert and adjunct professor at Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

However, the prosecution, after reviewing the National Assembly audit transcripts and the relevant legal interpretations, determined that Assemblyman Bu and others had sufficient reason to mistakenly believe the suspicions were true and had raised these issues for the public interest. Therefore, they concluded the case did not constitute defamation.

The prosecution further explained, “We confirmed that a person with a similar appearance to Cheongong, wearing a mask, visited the Army Chief of Staff’s official residence together with the deputy team leader of the Blue House Relocation TF (former Minister Kim Yonghyun), and that this individual was reported within the military as being ‘Cheongong’.”

As for broadcaster Kim Eo-jun and one daily newspaper journalist, who were also reported and received non-referral dispositions from the police, the prosecution determined that the police decisions were neither illegal nor inappropriate and returned the case files.

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