Police look into scam by fake reporter following Lee Jun-seok
Published: 25 Jul. 2025, 00:08
![Lee Jun-seok, then presidential candidate for the Reform Party, speaks to party members at the National Assemby in western Seoul on the results from Korea's 2025 presidential election on June 3. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/07/25/e69f8a6c-b149-4a02-b3ac-a4a596bc9658.jpg)
Lee Jun-seok, then presidential candidate for the Reform Party, speaks to party members at the National Assemby in western Seoul on the results from Korea's 2025 presidential election on June 3. [NEWS1]
A man who posed as a foreign correspondent to gain access to Lee Jun-seok, then Reform Party candidate for Korea's 2025 presidential election, is under police investigation for fraud.
Seoul's Jongno Police Precinct recently received a criminal complaint against the man, surnamed Kim, on charges of fraud and related offenses, according to police on Thursday.
Kim introduced himself as a Harvard University history graduate and claimed he was working as a journalist for the Korean bureau of a U.S.-based media outlet.
Using a forged press badge, he joined the press pool covering then-Reform Party candidate Lee as a dedicated beat reporter shadowing the candidate.
Kim used a fake business card to befriend reporters and Reform Party officials. He allegedly persuaded several reporters to consider joining the foreign outlet he claimed to work for. Some journalists, believing his pitch, reportedly resigned from their positions and even lent him money.
In some cases, Kim asked reporters to provide copies of their IDs and bankbooks, saying they were required for the U.S. headquarters.
Suspicion grew, and after several journalists contacted the Korean office of the media outlet, they discovered that Kim had no affiliation with the company.
"He gave me a business card saying he was a foreign correspondent, but beyond that, he never said anything to me, so I don’t know anything about this," Lee Jun-seok told Yonhap News Agency.
Jongno police conducted a preliminary investigation and transferred the case to Jungnang Police Precinct on July 18.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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