Yong-ho Kim (left), director of entertainment, and Yong-seok Kang (center), attorney, and CEO of Kim Se-eui, who are running the YouTube channel Horizontal and Vertical Research Center. [가로세로연구소 유튜브 방송 캡처]
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YouTuber Kim Yong-ho, 45, a former celebrity reporter who was handed over to trial for defamation alleging that Cho Kook, former Minister of Justice, had sponsored a certain actress, denied the charges at the first trial.
At the first trial held on the morning of the morning of the 16th at the hearing of judge Park Chang-hee of the Seoul Eastern District Law Criminal 12 alone, Mr. Kim emphasized that “the issue was raised on a public issue through accurate coverage,” and argued that “there was no purpose of slander.
On August 25, 2019, Mr. Kim is accused of uploading a video of’Who is the actress pushed by former Minister Cho’ through his YouTube channel’Kim Yong-ho’.
In addition, on the same channel on September 8 of the same year, there is a suspicion of saying, “We have covered enough about the actress that former Minister Cho pushed,” and “I made a transcript to leave evidence, and I will disclose one first.”
Mr. Kim’s lawyer said, “At the time, former Minister Cho was the subject of widespread public attention and surveillance as a candidate for the Minister of Justice.” It was judged that it was a matter of high publicity that could be raised.”
When Judge Park asked, “Is this not a false fact?”, Mr. Kim said, “It is not a false fact.” He said, “I met and interviewed the informant several times, and at the time of the broadcast, I heard a testimony that I could be sure of. I thought it was true when I broadcast it.”
Kim is also suspected of broadcasting various suspicions related to singer Kim Gun-mo’s wife Jang Ji-yeon from December 2019 to February 2020 through the YouTube Broadcasting Street Research Institute (Ka Se-yeon).
Regarding this, Mr. Kim argued that “I did not say that it was true,” and “he mentioned that there were rumors.” Mr. Kim also said, “I didn’t refer to Mr. Jang, and I thought about other people and said,” he said. “After that, there are specific parts through the media.”
Kim said that after the trial on the day, he met with reporters and said, “I interviewed several times with the informant who was close to former Minister Cho’s younger brother.”
The second trial date for Mr. Kim is scheduled to take place on the morning of the 16th of next month.
Reporter Dayoung Kim [email protected]
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