Shin Seong-sik, a former chief prosecutor, was acquitted in an appeals court on charges of defaming Han Dong-hoon, the former leader of the People Power Party, related to the so-called prosecutor-leak scandal.
The Seoul Southern District Court's Criminal Appeals Division 3, presided over by judges Jang Yoon-sun, Jo Gyu-seol, and Yoo Hwan-woo, upheld the lower court's not guilty verdict on June 23 for Shin and a KBS reporter identified as Lee.
The court stated, "It cannot be concluded that Shin was aware of the falsehood of the information," adding that it is difficult to find that the facts of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Shin was indicted in July 2020 for allegedly providing false information to reporters during KBS's reporting on the prosecutor-leak scandal.
KBS reported that it had obtained recordings suggesting that Shin and Lee, a former Channel A reporter, conspired to implicate former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation director Yoo Si-min in stock manipulation related to the company SillaJen. After Lee released the original recording, KBS acknowledged the error and issued an apology just one day after the report.
In the initial trial, the court found that "Shin did not appear to have made statements with the awareness that they were false, nor was there sufficient evidence to establish a purpose to defame," resulting in a not guilty verdict for both Shin and the reporter.
The prosecution had requested the appeals court to overturn the initial ruling and impose a fine of 10 million won and a one-year prison sentence during the conclusion of the appeals hearing on April 14.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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