Pro-Park lawmaker indicted for interfering in news coverage of Sewol sinking

All News 15:38 December 19, 2017

SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Yonhap) -- A former presidential aide to ousted President Park Geun-hye has been indicted without detention for interference in the news coverage of a ferry sinking that claimed more than 300 lives three years ago, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it has charged independent lawmaker Lee Jung-hyun with violating the broadcasting law.

Lee, known for his close ties with Park, stands accused of trying to tone down the public broadcaster KBS' coverage of the Sewol ferry that sank off the country's southwestern coast on April 16, 2014.

The sinking of the vessel killed 304 passengers aboard, mostly high school students on a field trip to the resort island of Jeju off the tip of the peninsula.

Prosecutors believe Lee, then the senior presidential secretary in charge of promotion and communication, made a phone call to the then KBS chief editor and suggested how the news coverage should be edited.

The allegations involving Lee first surfaced in June as several civic media groups filed a complaint with the prosecution, seeking an investigation into Lee's involvement in the suspected interference.

The prosecution decided to press charges against Lee based on the decision made by a public jury, made up of nine civilians, which recommended Lee be prosecuted.

The then government's alleged mishandling of the Sewol sinking became one of the reasons that later triggered moves toward the impeachment of Park, who was removed from office in March over a massive corruption scandal involving her longtime friend and confidante.

The incumbent government, led by liberal President Moon Jae-in, has set out for a probe into the suspected mishandling of the Sewol tragedy under Park's leadership, including Park's unaccounted whereabouts at the time of the accident.

The prosecution said it has also launched a probe into allegations that the Park administration sought to block an internal inquiry into the Sewol sinking by a special committee of the oceans and fisheries ministry.