The police noted on the 4th that there are parts of the allegations that differ from the facts regarding the claim that they did not conduct a compulsory investigation against Ryu Hee-rim, the former Chairperson of the Broadcasting and Communications Review Committee, who was recently referred to the prosecution for violating the Anti-Conflict of Interest Act.
A police official said at a regular press briefing that "a warrant was requested to secure materials, but it was not filed at the prosecution stage, and there were three requests for supplementation." He continued, "I believe we did our best to investigate under various restricted circumstances," adding, "There is public sentiment that it is difficult to accept the results, and we are continuing to confirm what the issues are."
Former Chairperson Ryu is under suspicion of having mobilized family and acquaintances to file over 100 complaints during the process of reviewing the Broadcasting and Communications Review Committee's deliberation on News Tapa's report and quoted report of 'Kim Man-bae - Shin Hak-rim's false interview' last December. Although the police referred Ryu to the prosecution last month for violating the Anti-Conflict of Interest Act, they did not forward the allegations related to obstruction of business, citing no grounds for charges.
The police also referred former Head of Team Tak Dong-sam, who reported the suspicion of instigating complaints to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, as well as the General Secretary of the Broadcasting and Communications Review Committee's union, Ji Gyeong-kyu, and an employee of the Review Committee, identified as A. Tak and Ji are facing charges for violating the Personal Information Protection Act for leaking the allegations against former Chairperson Ryu to the media. Ji and A are also charged with violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.
In response, civil organizations such as the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy called for a re-investigation of former Chairperson Ryu and argued that the suppression of the "whistleblower" who raised suspicions of instigating complaints should be stopped.