(September 13, 2024) MediaWatch CEO Byun Hee-Jae has requested the court to thoroughly investigate the issue of when the “L-shaped lock pattern” was set on the ‘Choi Soon-Sil tablet,’ which is a key matter in determining how the tablet was obtained. He argued that, given the current situation where the prosecution has failed to present any relevant forensic evidence, it is meaningless to assess the probability of the tablet’s acquisition as claimed by the JTBC broadcasting company being true.

On the 12th, CEO Byun Hee-Jae, in his opinion letter submitted to the tablet defamation appeals court, re-examined the truth of the so-called “miracle of Kim Pil-Jun.” This refers to Kim Pil-Jun supposedly unlocking the ‘Choi Soon-Sil tablet’ with the L-shaped lock pattern on the first attempt as soon as he discovered the tablet in The Blue K office on October 18, 2016. Byun raised questions about the truth of this narrative, pointing out that even if the tablet had actually been set with the L-shaped lock pattern, the mathematical probability of such a coincidence occurring is 0.000007% (1 in 140,000).

In his opinion letter, Byun argues, “Only if the prosecution presents material evidence that can specify when the L-shaped lock pattern was set on the tablet could we even consider acknowledging the 0.000007% (1 in 140,000) chance of this coincidence occurring. Otherwise, it would mean that Kim Pil-Jun is completely lying about this incident.” He further argues that, “If the prosecution cannot specify that the tablet’s L-shaped lock pattern was set before October 18, 2016–by providing relevant forensic evidence–it is meaningless to even discuss the possibility of the lock pattern being unlocked by chance.”

He emphasizes, “Assuming the tablet was indeed set with the L-shaped lock pattern before October 18, 2016, the probability of someone randomly unlocking the device is precisely 0.000007% (1 in 140,000).” With that being said, he noted that “whether Kim Pil-Jun or his girlfriend used the L-shaped pattern on their own smartphones is irrelevant to the tablet’s lock pattern, as they are mathematically independent events. Therefore, even if such evidence were presented by Kim Pil-Jun or the prosecution (even if the lock pattern of ‘Choi Soon-Sil’s tablet’  was actually an L-shaped lock pattern), it would not affect the suspicious fact that the incident Kim experienced corresponds to a very low probability of 0.000007%.” Byun mentions how this is basic high school level probability theory that everyone should be aware of.

The testimony given by journalist Kim Pil-Jun on April 6, 2017, during his appearance before the prosecution was the first time that JTBC, following the L-shaped lock pattern scenario presented by Special Prosecutors Yoon Seok-Yeol and Han Dong-Hoon, provided a detailed statement regarding the issue of the lock pattern in relation to the circumstances of how the tablet was initially acquired. Here, Kim explains that he himself was surprised when the tablet opened via the L-shaped pattern, which he coincidentally uses on his own devices. When questioned about the accusations of someone from JTBC broadcasting providing him with the pattern, Kim denies the allegation.

JTBC’s second complaint against Media Watch. In this second complaint, submitted in December 2017, JTBC began to mention the L-shaped lock pattern issue, which had not been addressed in the first complaint filed in January. This second complaint also brought up the matter of the L-shaped lock pattern on the phone of Kim's girlfriend, an issue that had not been previously mentioned in Kim’s testimony to the prosecution in April.

CEO Byun Hee-Jae explained this situation using an analogy. “Kim Pil-Jun is essentially boasting that he hit the lottery with odds of 0.000007% (1 in 140,000).” He continued, “The problem is that the only ‘proof’ Kim has provided to support his claim is a single lottery ticket–the forensic report of his own phone. At the same time, Kim is also claiming that his girlfriend has a lottery ticket with the same winning numbers.”

Byun elaborated, “But the key issue when it comes to lottery winnings is what the official winning lottery numbers issued by the lottery company are (in this case, forensic evidence regarding the ‘Choi Soon-Sil tablet’ lock pattern).” He then criticized how “Without any verification, the prosecution simply accepted Kim Pil-Jun’s claim that his lottery ticket matches the winning numbers issued by the company and, based solely on that, deemed it an ‘objective fact.’ Even if Kim’s lottery numbers were the same as the official winning numbers, it would still be an unbelievable event with odds of 0.000007% (1 in 140,000), something the prosecution has turned a blind eye to.”

Byun added, “Currently, MediaWatch is challenging the prosecution to, first, provide the official winning numbers (forensic evidence that the tablet’s lock pattern was indeed the L-shaped pattern). This is the core of the current dispute, but the prosecution has been unable to provide any answers to MediaWatch’s demands.”

In conclusion, he argued that the truth of Kim Pil-Jun’s claims about how he acquired the tablet boils down to two possibilities: either it is an improbable coincidence with odds of 0.000007% (1 in 140,000), making it difficult to accept as fact based on common sense, or Kim’s testimony about unlocking the tablet is completely false, a fact that is mathematically and logically clear. “The only scenario where we might lean toward the first possibility is if forensic evidence were provided showing that the L-shaped lock pattern was set on the tablet before October 18, 2016. Without such evidence, the latter conclusion is undeniable.”

Byun closed by requesting the appeals court to conduct a thorough review of the matter, expressing his hope that a fact-finding investigation by the National Forensic Service would reveal the truth. He again urged for the resumption of evidence investigation.