Home > National > Politics

Lee rebukes media for coverage of claims that he had links to organized crime

Published: 14 Mar. 2026, 16:06

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a town hall meeting with residents of North Chungcheong in the central city of Cheongju on March 13. [NEWS1]

President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday rebuked media coverage of allegations that he had links to organized crime, saying that “irresponsible media can be more dangerous than a weapon” after the Supreme Court ruled against a local-level opposition party official for making the claims.

Lee made the remarks on X after the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced Jang Young-ha, a People Power Party (PPP) official in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for spreading false information in violation of the Public Official Election Act.

The president shared a post by Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Lee Geon-tae reporting on the ruling and accused the media of amplifying unverified claims about ties to organized crime, and subsequently failing to address the illegitimacy of the allegations after the court ruling.

“Media outlets that indiscriminately expanded and reported the baseless ‘Lee Jae Myung–gangster connection’ without verification have not issued a single apology or correction even after this ruling,” Lee wrote. “There has not even been a proper factual report, let alone a correction.”

He added that many people may still believe the allegations. “Media that report without fact-checking, deliberately distort or manipulate stories or repeat groundless claims are more frightening than a weapon,” Lee said. “I hope for a clean world free of fake news, where truth and justice flow like a river.”

The PPP's Jang previously served as legal counsel for Park Cheol-min, a member of the Seongnam-based criminal organization. In October 2021, citing Park’s claims, Jang alleged that Lee received about 2 billion won ($1.3 million) from the group while serving as mayor of Seongnam in exchange for business favors.

The DP also criticized the media, saying that even after the Supreme Court’s final ruling, many outlets had failed to issue proper corrections or apologies.

Party floor spokesperson Baek Seung-ah said in a statement that some media organizations rushed to report the allegations when they first surfaced, but remained silent after they were proven false.

“When the false claims first emerged, media outlets competed to report them,” Baek said. “But once the claims were shown to be untrue, they have remained silent, abandoning their responsibility.”

DP Rep. Choo Mi-ae, chair of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, also joined the criticism, writing on Facebook that “the media that loudly spread lies have become extremely quiet in the face of the truth.”

The PPP, however, argued that if fake news is the issue, the same standard should be applied to pro-government broadcaster Kim Eo-jun, whose YouTube program initially triggered the spread of allegations that prosecutors might drop criminal charges against the president as part of a political deal.

In a statement, party senior spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said that spreading unverified claims and reporting without fact-checking are serious problems, but questioned why the president has remained silent about the allegations surrounding any such deal, which the ruling party insisted was fake news.

The spokesperson said any deal to drop charges in exchange for adjustments to the prosecution's authority would undermine constitutional order and potentially warrant impeachment.

He also criticized the DP for filing a complaint against a guest who raised the allegation while excluding Kim, the host of the program where the claim was aired.

“If we follow the president’s own logic, isn’t Kim Eo-jun’s broadcast — where baseless allegations were echoed and spread — the very ‘weapon-like media’ he is referring to?” The PPP's Park said. “The claim that the president’s case was dropped in exchange for changes to the prosecution’s investigative powers constitutes a grave criminal allegation that shakes the constitutional order. If true, it would even warrant consideration of the president’s impeachment.”

He added, “Yet the president himself, the party directly involved, remains silent.”

The spokesperson also criticized the DP's response to the controversy.

“It is even harder to understand the Democratic Party’s stance,” he said. “The party has previously filed complaints against entire YouTube channels over remarks made by guests. But this time, it has filed a complaint only against the guest who raised the ‘indictment withdrawal deal’ allegation, while excluding Kim Eo-jun, the host of the program, from the complaint,” he said.

“By the president’s own logic, wouldn’t Kim Eo-jun’s program — where baseless suspicions were echoed and spread — be exactly the kind of ‘weapon-like media’ he criticizes?”

The spokesperson urged the government to address the allegations through an independent investigation, saying, “If the so-called deal to drop charges is truly fake news, it should be transparently clarified through a special prosecutor probe."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]