<Anchor> The



first trial court acquitted Lee Dong-jae, a former Channel A reporter who was handed over to trial for attempted coercion. Although it is clear that he violated the ethics of reporting, he said that it cannot be punished as a crime.



Reporter Son Hyung-an will deliver the main contents of the case and the court's judgment today (16th).



<Reporter>



In February of last year, reporter Lee Dong-jae at the time of Channel A sent several letters to former VIK CEO Lee Cheol, who was incarcerated, citing the possibility of family punishment, and allegations arose that he had asked for misleading information such as Yoo Si-min, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyung Foundation.



Prosecutors indicted this reporter on charges of attempted coercion, and the reporter was released on bail last February while on trial.



The judgment of the first trial court, which came out 11 months after the trial, was that both this reporter and fellow reporters were not guilty.



The court judged that although Lee mentioned the prosecution's investigation into Lee's representative company, it is difficult to believe that this alone made the victim aware that it would affect the prosecution's investigation.



He also explained that freedom of the press is difficult to rule with punishment as it is the last bulwark, but he said that the former reporter clearly violated the reporting ethics and deserves moral condemnation.



[Lee Dong-jae / Former Channel A reporter: Thank you to the court for judging according to the law. I'll tell you the story that I haven't been able to do before.]



Former reporter Lee said in an additional statement that it was revealed that the suspicion of collusion was not substantive, and insisted that it be revealed whether there was any political pressure in the background of this case.



Prosecutors responded to this by considering whether to file an appeal.



(Video coverage:



Yang Doo-

won, video editing: Kim Jong-woo) 

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