Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Vice Chairman Kim Tae-gyu said on the 20th in relation to the Supreme Court ruling that Kim Tae-woo, former head of Gangseo-gu, Seoul, applied for a suspended prison sentence, saying, “I became a criminal for filing a public interest report.” I am concerned that it may cause it.”
Kim Tae-woo, the head of Gangseo-gu (former prosecutor’s office), was indicted for disclosing the suspicion of civilian surveillance by the Blue House special inspection team (leakage of official secrets) and was sentenced to probation. The picture is of the person coming out after the second trial held at the Suwon District Court in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of August 12 last year. yunhap news
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission is an organization that designates public interest whistleblowers. Vice Chairman Kim said on Facebook on the 20th, “The common opinion of the three vice-chairmen of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, including Seung-yoon Jeong, the Secretary-General of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, Jong-min Park, the head of the Central Administrative Appeal, and myself.”
He commented, “Kim Tae-woo’s public interest report caused a great sensation by revealing the misconduct of Jung Joong-ang, a government official, and for this reason, it is not inferior to seeing it as a representative example of public interest reporting.”
He said, “This ruling showed the attitude that the act of reporting to the media before filing a public interest report can be punished. It seems to mean that public interest whistleblowers report only to state agencies in accordance with the law, and if they want to be protected, they should not appear in front of the media regardless of whether before or after reporting,” he said. It can be a crime of defamation, and you can be punished. Furthermore, you may be liable for damages. As such, it is difficult for anyone to come forward and file a public interest report. He pointed out the problem with this ruling, saying, “There are not many people who are willing enough to file a public interest report relying on the good faith of the reporting agency.”
He emphasized again, “There is no reason that the accusation of misconduct should be monopolized by state institutions,” and “there is never any justification to insist that it is the right thing after punishing the public interest whistleblower.”
The previous day, Kim Ki-hyun, CEO of People’s메이저사이트 Power, also said, “It is difficult to accept that the court made the right decision.” He pointed out that (the court) lost the post of mayor with a minor legal and formal standard for fulfilling that duty.”
Former district chief Kim, a former prosecutor’s officer, was dismissed from office after serving as a member of the special inspection team in the Civil Affairs Office of the Blue House, Moon Jae-in. Afterwards, he exposed allegations of bribery and other corruption by former Busan City Vice Mayor Yoo Jae-soo, as well as allegations of ignoring the supervision of the Civil Affairs Office. As a result, former Mayor Kim was sentenced to probation and resigned from the position of Mayor of Gangseo-gu. Former Minister of Justice Cho Kook, then chief civil servant, was found guilty in the first trial in February of this year.