The TV Chosun article was deleted on the 9th, which dealt with the suspicion of ‘special hiring of police prakchi’, the first police chief Kim Soon-ho. This article is an exclusive interview with former Inspector Hong Seung-sang, who is known to have been involved in Kim’s special police recruitment, and it had a great ripple effect as it nailed the time when Director Kim visited former Inspector General Hong as “early 1989”. TV Chosun said that the article was temporarily taken down for reinforcement coverage because there was a part that needed to be confirmed in the media today.
The title of the article that TV Chosun deleted was ‘[취재후 Talk] Controversy over Kim Soon-ho’s appointment as the first police chief… I heard about the police who were special at the time.” The ‘special police officer’ interviewed is former Inspector Hong Seung-sang. Former Inspector Hong is a police officer who drafted a false report at the time of the torture and death of Park Jong-cheol. TV Chosun published the article online on the afternoon of the 8th, and abruptly deleted the article the next day.
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Regarding this, Ahn Seok-ho, director of TV Chosun’s social affairs department, said in a phone call with Media Today on the 12th, “It was written in the form of an interview review, not an article.” There was such a point on the internal monitor, so I decided to revise the sentences and add the less fact-checked parts to publish (an article), so I took it down for a while.” When asked if the article will be uploaded again after the supplementary coverage is completed, Director Ahn replied, “I’m doing supplementary coverage, but if there’s a part that I can’t confirm, I can’t write it.”
When asked if the facts in the article were wrong, Ahn said, “I wrote the information I covered. However, it is not possible to tell the parties that ‘everything we covered is correct’. Please understand it to the extent that we will do more research on that part.” Media Today also sent an e-mail to the reporter who wrote the article to ask the reason for the deletion, but got no response.
Former Inspector Hong, the subject of the interview, is considered to be a key figure who knows the background of Director Kim’s special police recruitment. Inspector Hong did not interview any other media except for TV Chosun, so the TV Chosun article had sufficient reporting value.
Above all, former Inspector Hong said in an interview with TV Chosun that the time of his confession, which can be said to be the core of the ‘Frakchi suspicion’, was “early 1989”, which is expected to have a big ripple effect. Former Superintendent Hong explained that in early 1989, Director Kim came to see him ‘everything’. Inspector Hong said, “(Director Kim) is a person who learned a lot about the ideology of the movement, so when the evidence related to the movement came in, he analyzed it. So he got a lot of help from him. A typical case is the Innohoe case… ,” he said at the time.
When Director Kim visited former Inspector Hong, it was a smoking gun that could confirm the ‘Frakchi Suspicion’. The police completed the investigation into the Innohoe case in June 1989. Director Kim claims that he confessed to the police headquarters in July 1989, after the investigation into the Innohoe case was completed. He said he went to the police after the investigation was over, and that means he never informed the presbytery of the case. However, if it is true that Director Kim visited the police in early 1989, as suggested by Inspector Hong, the ‘Frakchi suspicion’ would be revealed.
Next, Inspector Hong explained about the background of Director Kim’s special police recruitment, “Director Kim completely got out of the sports field and even helped with the investigation. So that’s why I got it as a special treat. From my point of view, it is a kind of scouting, and from the perspective of that person (Director Kim), I choose a place to live in order to live.”
![▲ TV Chosun Article '[취재후 Talk] Controversy over Kim Soon-ho's appointment as the first police chief... When I heard about the police who were special at the time, the article was deleted. Photo = Naver search screen capture.](https://i0.wp.com/cdn.mediatoday.co.kr/news/photo/202208/305380_416127_3050.png?w=900&ssl=1)
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TV Chosun mentioned that Director Kim refuted, “The allegation that he was appointed as a police officer by reporting the Innohoe case, etc., is only speculation.” If that person betrays you, will you take responsibility?’ So, ‘I will take responsibility. I’ll take responsibility for any special order,'” said former Inspector Hong. Former Inspector General Hong said, “It’s a ‘special job’ about Director Kim not receiving new training, which is compulsory police training. If you say you came in after taking a test, then it’s not a ‘special special’. This is a special dish,” he explained.
TV Chosun said, “Director Kim is the only ‘general person’ among the 34 national security officers. But what would the people think if he rose to that position enjoying privileges that most ordinary police officers could not enjoy?” TV Chosun emphasized, “How can we explain the legitimacy of the Police Department, which was launched with the ambivalence of ‘creating a transparent and fair personnel system’ unless the suspicion surrounding Director Kim is resolved?”
After the article was deleted, TV Chosun did not cover the news about Director Kim in the broadcast news. In addition, TV Chosun said in an Internet article on the 10th, “(Director of National Police Agency Yoon Hee-geun) said, ‘I don’t think it’s something I’m going to talk about at this meeting’ about Kim Soon-ho, the first police chief, who has recently raised an administrative controversy in the past. I think it’s a matter for the ministry to decide,’ and dismissed it,” the police said.
On the other hand, Director Kim said in an interview with MBC Radio Kim Jong-bae’s Focus on the Eyes on the 11th, about the suspicion of ‘Prakchi Special’, “Now that I become the police chief, I am framed by raising all kinds of speculations and suspicions, but I am also suspicious of what his intentions are.” . Regarding the deleted TV Chosun report, Director Kim said, “I really don’t know how and why the report was made. However, I would like to state clearly that it has nothing to do with the facts.” Director Kim replied, “I will check that part as well” to the host’s question, “Is this person (ex-Inspector Hong) testifying to false facts?”
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