What Went Wrong? SBS‘s Misstep in Reporting President Lee Jae-myung’s Gangster Allegations Explained

[Sports Today reporter Kim Tae-hyung] After the production team of Unanswered Questions issued a formal apology for its 2018 report alleging President Lee Jae-myung's ties to organized crime, SBS issued a second apology when inappropriate hashtags appeared while sharing that statement.

On the 22nd, SBS said, "We identified and deleted inappropriate words that were included in auto-generated hashtags on some social media posts," and added, "We will manage hashtags more carefully."

Earlier, SBS News' official social media account shared the apology piece about President Lee Jae-myung, but it also displayed the hashtags #allegations #president #LeeJaeMyung #murder #defenseAttorney #SupremeCourt, which prompted criticism.

The incident occurred immediately after the production team formally apologized for the 2018 Unanswered Questions episode that raised suspicions about the president's alleged ties to organized crime. SBS apologized again for allowing inappropriate keywords to be mixed in when the apology was shared.

On the 20th, SBS said that Unanswered Questions aired its July 21, 2018 episode titled "Power and the Mob — A Year After the Pattaya Murder Case," which raised suspicions about links between politicians in the Seongnam area and violent groups. The program reported that then-Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung was listed in 2007 as a defense attorney for two members of the Seongnam International Mafia faction. After the broadcast, Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi opened an investigation. In November 2018, it forwarded the case to prosecutors with a recommendation of non-indictment, and the Seongnam District Prosecutor's Office issued a non-indictment decision in December 2018, SBS said.

SBS added that on March 12 of last week, the Supreme Court applied the offense of false statement under the Public Official Election Act to attorney Jang Young-ha — who had alleged before the 2021 presidential election that candidate Lee received money from the Seongnam International Mafia faction — and finalized a sentence of one year in prison, suspended for two years. Accordingly, the alleged ties between then-Governor Lee and the Seongnam International Mafia faction have been legally confirmed as untrue, the broadcaster said.

The program also issued an apology, saying, "Unanswered Questions apologizes for raising suspicions without solid evidence that then-Governor Lee appeared on the attorney list." It pledged, "The program will adhere to the 'SBS Journalism Principles' enacted and implemented by SBS in 2024 and will continue to produce accurate, objective reporting."

[Sports Today reporter Kim Tae-hyung ent@stoo.com]
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