<Anchor>
I told you earlier that the prosecution had captured the circumstances in which Mr. Kim Man-bae, a key figure in the 'Daejang-dong suspicion', handed over large checks to media executives.
Prosecutors are also investigating the fact that Mr. Kim handed out up to several million won to dozens of reporters.
Reporter Kang Chung-wan reports.
<Reporter> In
the process of tracing the funds related to Kim Man-bae, the prosecution confirmed that Kim's funds flowed to other reporters in addition to the executives of the press that SBS reported on.
The scale reached dozens of people, and it was found that 1 million won to several million won was handed over to each person through golf entertainment.
Attorney Nam-wook stated in a prosecutor's investigation last year that "Mr. Kim Man-bae gave 1 million won to each reporter every time he played golf."
The prosecution also confirmed that in 2020, Mr. Kim's funds of 100 million won flowed to the Hankook Ilbo executive.
This executive explained to SBS, “I borrowed 100 million won for moving expenses, and after Mr. Kim was arrested, I paid the interest in October 2021, and the principal is due in May of this year, so the repayment process is in progress.”
Prosecutors summoned Mr. Kim yesterday to investigate the flow of money in Daejang-dong, including allegations of lobbying for journalists.
[Kim Man-bae/Daejang-dong private business operator: (The story that reporters gave money keeps coming out...) …
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An official from the prosecution said, "If we do not confirm the suspicion raised, we will not leave the prosecution outside."
In the midst of this, the Hankyoreh newspaper, to which the executive-level reporter who received Kim's check of 600 million won, issued an apology, excluded the executive from his duties, and announced that it had launched its own fact-finding investigation.
The Hankook Ilbo and JoongAng Ilbo also excluded executives who had made large financial transactions with Mr. Kim from work.
(Video coverage: Lee Yong, video editing: Hwang Ji-young)