"President Deceived the Public," Says Yoo Si-min... Accused of Defamation by Stating False Information

Sasehaeng: "Implied That Prosecution Reform Was in Effect Blocked"

Claims That "President Lee’s Social Reputation Was Damaged"

A civic group has filed a police complaint against author Yoo Si-min, accusing him of defamation by stating false information. This comes after Yoo claimed that President Lee Jaemyung "deceived the public" regarding the President's statements on prosecution reform.

On September 28, the group "Civic Action for Judicial Justice" (Sasehaeng) announced that it had reported Yoo to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on charges of defamation by stating false facts under the Information and Communications Network Act.

Kim Hanmae, executive representative of Sasehaeng, argued that Yoo had appeared on the 'Media Today' YouTube channel on September 22 and claimed that "While the terms 'separation of investigation and prosecution' and 'prosecution reform' were used together, the substance was different. The President has deceived the public thus far." Kim asserted this statement constituted false information.

Yoo Si-min, writer. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

At the time, Yoo stated, "President Lee said dividing 'prosecutors who investigate' and 'prosecutors who indict' within the Ministry of Justice was the ultimate goal of prosecution reform. I was shocked to hear him say this at the press conference," adding, "This is incorrect and not true. I have never heard this claim before."

Regarding Yoo's remarks, Kim stressed that "defamation by stating false information can be established even if a person could have known it was not true with reasonable care, and this also includes willful negligence." Kim criticized Yoo, saying, "By asserting such false information that President Lee deceived the public and in effect blocked prosecution reform, Yoo harmed President Lee's social reputation and defamed him."

Kim further asserted, "Considering the President's public actions, such as live cabinet meetings and press conferences witnessed by the majority of the public over the past year, Yoo's remarks contradict objective facts."

Meanwhile, some voices within the ruling party have also criticized Yoo, saying his criticism of President Lee has gone too far. Park Sungjoon, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party, said at the 'Chuseok Public Sentiment Press Briefing' held at the National Assembly the previous day, "The most important thing is not to distort the President's true intentions regarding prosecution reform. We hope there will be no further distortions of the President’s intent or misleading of facts through unreasonable assertions," adding, "Such excessive remarks are needlessly shaking up our side."

However, Kim Minseok, the party leader, appeared on the 'Democratic Party TV' YouTube channel that day and said, "Here as well, there are derogatory nicknames like 'Yoo-sa Citizen,' and we need to minimize expressions that could make others uncomfortable," and added, "People are saying we are not moving fast enough with reform, but we also need restraint in order to resolve these issues."

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