(August 29, 2024) While the National Forensic Service (NFS) confirmed that there was no record of the so-called “Choi Soon-sil Tablet” accessing any Blue House documents, it has now been revealed that prosecutors conducted a manipulation investigation of these documents based on JTBC's initial report on the "Choi Soon-sil Tablet" at the outset of the "manipulation of state affairs" controversy.
On the 29th, MediaWatch reviewed the entire "Choi Soon-sil Tablet" investigation report submitted as evidence by the prosecution to the court. They discovered that, during the "manipulation of state affairs" controversy at the end of 2016, the prosecution altered the record of "access" to the Blue House document file on the "Choi Soon-sil Tablet" to a "viewing" record.
On October 24, 2016, JTBC aired a scoop report related to the "Choi Soon-sil Tablet" and highlighted the Dresden speech as a key example of the Blue House document leak. JTBC claimed that Choi Seo-won(formerly Choi Soon-sil) had viewed the Dresden speech, stating, "(Private citizen Choi Soon-sil) received an advance draft of the Dresden speech text the day before President Park's deliberation." The broadcast also suggested that Choi Soon-sil had revised the document, noting, “There were red letters here and there in the draft that Choi received in advance.”
Subsequently, the prosecutors announced the results of their investigation, which closely mirrored the content of the JTBC broadcast, raising concerns of collusion between the prosecutors and the broadcasting company. On November 4, 2016, Kim Do-hyun, a prosecution investigator at the Seoul Central District Public Prosecutors Office, reported to Prosecutor Koh Hyeong-gon (now Deputy Prosecutor General of the Suwon High Prosecutors Office) in an investigation report titled “How the Blue House Document Was Leaked on a Tablet PC.” In this report, Kim stated “It is confirmed that Choi Soon-sil received the Blue House documents from Jeong Ho-seong using a tablet PC.”
The prosecutor's report concluded that “it is confirmed that Choi Soon-sil used the tablet PC to view the Blue House documents and that Choi Soon-sil's statement claiming she never used the tablet PC... is clearly a false statement made out of fear that the substance of the case would be exposed.” This report was submitted as evidence in both the trial of former President Park Geun-hye for leaking official secrets and in the defamation trial of MediaWatch reporters, including Representative Byun Hee-jae.
However, MediaWatch has confirmed that the investigation report does not provide any evidence of Choi Soon-sil or the “Choi Soon-sil Tablet” user, presumed to be former Blue House official Kim Han-soo, viewing Blue House documents. The report shows when various document files were opened on the tablet, but these are “accessed” records rather than “viewed” records. An “access” record can be created simply by downloading a file.
According to the NFS's “Choi Soon-sil Tablet” evaluation report secured by MediaWatch, the “32nd State Council Meeting Minutes” and “Gangwon Province Business Report” documents, which the prosecutors presented as evidence of Choi Soon-sil’s viewing, were not viewed by Choi Soon-sil during her phone conversation with Jeong Hyosung on July 23, 2013. Instead, they were viewed by the prosecutors on October 25, 2016. In other words, the prosecutors misrepresented their own viewing records of the Blue House documents as records of Choi Soon-sil’s viewing.
The prosecutors' fabricated investigation into the Blue House documents continued. On November 7, 2016, Kim Do-hyun, a prosecutorial investigator at the Seoul Central District Public Prosecutors Office, reported to Prosecutor Kim Yong-jae (currently Prosecutor, Criminal Investigation Department 3, Eastern Branch, Busan District Public Prosecutors Office) in an investigation report titled “Confirmation of Leakage Route of Dresden Speech Text.” The report claimed that “By analyzing digital forensics results on the tablet PC, the Dresden speech file (_.hwp) dated March 27, 2014, which was found on the tablet PC... is confirmed to have been transmitted to Choi Soon-sil.”
The investigation report concluded that Choi Soon-sil viewed the “Dresden Speech” file on her “Choi Soon-sil Tablet,” compiled the opinions of the participants from the email-sharing account where the speech file was uploaded, and then revised the speech on a separate device (a computer). The report also states that Choi communicated with Jeong Ho-seong using a different device (phone) and revised the speech file four times, a conclusion that can only be considered nonsensical.
The prosecutors were unable to establish the “Dresden Speech” controversy as an “objective fact” in the trial of former President Park Geun-hye for leaking official secrets, as well as in the defamation trial of MediaWatch reporters, including Representative Byeon Hee-jae. Likewise, the prosecution's inability to even claim that the speech was revised was likely largely due to the fact that the document creation and modification program was not installed on the actual “Choi Soon-sil Tablet.”
Concerning the investigation report by the prosecutors, Byun Hee-jae, head of MediaWatch, stated, “It seems that not only the ‘second Choi Soon-sil tablet’ fabrication investigation submitted by Jang Si-ho, but also the ‘first Choi Soon-sil tablet’ fabrication investigation submitted by the JTBC broadcasting company have now been effectively proven.”
Byeon Hee-jae added, “In light of the investigation into the truth of this matter and its legal ramifications, Lee Jae-myung, the representative of the Democratic Party, who has already had a significant political confrontation with the deceptive prosecutors of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, must take decisive action immediately.”
“As demonstrated by the dismissal of Prosecutor Lee Jung-seop’s impeachment, removing a prosecutor is only possible when specific criminal acts, such as the fabricated tablet investigation, are proven,” he continued. “If the impeachment issues involving Prosecutor Kim Young-chul, as well as Prosecutors Koh Hyeong-gon and Kim Yong-jae, are not addressed properly, it could result in a catastrophic outcome for Representative Lee Jae-myung.”
