KIM MAN-BAE SUSPECTED OF BRIBING MEDIA

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Evidence has found that Kim Man-bae, a key culprit in the Seongnam land development scandal which was carried out when DP representative Lee Jae-myung served as the city's mayor, was allegedly involved in acts of bribery. Not only were those from the media sector involved, but the bribery case has now spread to those in the legal sector, Seongnam City and Seongnam City Council. Meanwhile, after it was revealed that a senior official at Hankyoreh newspaper received money from Kim Man-bae, the newspaper's management expressed their intent to resign.

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Kim Man-bae, a controlling shareholder in Hwacheon Daeyu, is also a former journalist. There was once controversy over allegations that he had given up to hundreds of millions of won to three journalists at daily newspaper organizations between 2019 and 2020. A senior official at the Hankyoreh newspaper is suspected of receiving an additional 300 million won on top of the 600 million he had allegedly received earlier. This eventually led the newspaper's management, including the president, editor in chief and other editors, to offer their resignation en masse. Evidence was also found that multiple journalists had been brought into Hawcheon Daeyu in which Kim Man-bae holds a 100 percent stake. Between 2017 and 2021 when the Daejang-dong development project was gaining momentum, senior officials at a major daily newspaper, a business newspaper and a news agency were appointed as advisers and received tens of millions of won. There are also growing suspicions that Kim intended to use the media's influence in favor of the Daejang-dong project, as he allegedly attempted to acquire two news companies around the time. According to transcriptions of statements made by major figures involved in the Daejang-dong project, they indicated murky deals with the media, saying, "journalists need cash. We receive promissory notes via the Kakao Talk messenger," and "We once helped them purchase apartments." The prosecution also plan to look into allegations that Kim Man-bae played golf and offered bribes to some judges and prosecutors in order to thwart a probe into the Daejang-dong scandal. He is also suspected of providing bribes to key officials at the Seongnam city government when they went on overseas trips. There are more suspicions that Kim exerted his influence to help specific officials at the city government and the city council get promoted. The prosecution says they will look into all of these allegations one by one, although they are not major issues of the Daejang-dong scandal.