You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 315

You Have Been Defended – Episode 315

[As a result of the police’s custodial investigation of Mr. Shin and Mr. Park, the suspects in the murder of former Minwoo Party Representative Lee Jung-chan, Mr. Park confessed that he committed the murder at the behest of Mr. Sung.]

Mr. Park claimed that Mr. Sung, an employee in the secretary’s office of a large corporation, commissioned the murder. He further stated that Mr. Sung ordered him not only to kill former Representative Lee Jung-chan but also to plant the murder weapons at Attorney Cha Joo-han’s house.

The investigation revealed a witness who saw Mr. Sung at Hwagun Reservoir that day. Police also tracked and confirmed the license plate of an unregistered vehicle used by Mr. Sung, placing him at Hwagun Reservoir on the day of the murder.

Furthermore, dozens of phone calls between Mr. Sung and Mr. Park on the day of the incident were traced to prepaid phones used by both men. Mr. Park also testified that Mr. Sung gave Mr. Shin a bag containing 100 million won [approximately $85,000 USD] the day after the murder, and Mr. Shin subsequently paid off approximately 40 million won [approximately $34,000 USD] in debt. Based on this evidence, police arrested Mr. Sung on charges of soliciting murder. However, Mr. Sung has consistently denied the charges.

Following the reporter’s briefing, Sung In-ho was shown being transferred to the detention center.

Although his face was obscured as he hung his head, I suspected that the level of reporting would be enough for many viewers to recognize him as a Wooshin employee.

There’s no easy escape for him now. Sung In-ho will definitely confess to prevent the blame from reaching Ko Yoon-soo, his superior.

He’ll likely claim he acted alone due to a personal grudge against Lee Jung-chan, but I doubt anyone will believe that.

[Meanwhile, Attorney Cha Joo-han, who was wrongly accused of being a suspect in the murder of former Minwoo Party Representative Lee Jung-chan, has filed a defamation lawsuit against 30 broadcasting companies and media outlets that used footage of his broadcast appearances in their reports.]

The lawsuit stems from a media company breaking the reporting embargo and publishing an article naming Attorney Cha Joo-han as a suspect in the murder of former Representative Lee Jung-chan. Subsequently, 30 broadcasting companies and media outlets broadcast footage of Attorney Cha Joo-han’s broadcast appearances, albeit with mosaic blurring, which ultimately revealed him as the suspect, causing significant damage to his reputation.

An official stated that at the time of the initial report, the police investigation was non-public, relying only on circumstantial evidence with no witnesses or search warrant issued. Despite this, Attorney Cha Joo-han’s identity was revealed, causing him considerable hardship.

The official further emphasized that while the media outlet that initially reported Attorney Cha Joo-han as a suspect is culpable, the other media outlets that amplified and reproduced false information, assuming it was acceptable because the information was already public, are equally responsible.

The official concluded that they would maintain a zero-tolerance policy and send a clear message against the media’s reckless pursuit of sensationalism under the guise of ‘the public’s right to know,’ while disregarding individual human rights.

The report began with the voice of announcer Jin Hye-kyung.

The lawsuit against the media companies was something I initiated as soon as I was cleared of charges and my innocence was publicly established.

I contacted the media outlets, informing them that if they didn’t issue a public apology or broadcast a retraction, I would pursue every available legal avenue, including filing a formal complaint.

The results were encouraging.

Jin Hye-kyung, the anchor of News 9, personally visited my office to apologize on behalf of the broadcasting station and promised to broadcast an apology during the News 9 broadcast.

Of course, the apology broadcast would ultimately be directed at the viewers.

“Why the hell do these bastards report on infringing on other people’s rights if they’re just going to apologize later?” Choi Jong-hyun exclaimed, pointing at the TV.

“Is it okay to stab someone and then just say sorry?”

He was visibly angry.

While this apology felt inadequate, it wasn’t easy to get them to issue it in the first place.

It’s virtually impossible for an individual to compel the three major terrestrial broadcasting companies to issue an apology.

Even if you go to court, you’ll likely lose.

Therefore, simply filing a complaint wasn’t enough. With Lee Se-hwa’s help, I met with an official from the Korea Communications Commission [KCC, the South Korean government agency regulating broadcasting and telecommunications] and urged them to issue an apology order.

Regardless, I was confident that I could secure compensation from more than half of the 30 or so media companies in court, even if not all of them. However, I believed that having the broadcasting company directly broadcast an apology would be the most effective way to restore my damaged reputation.

Even securing an apology order from the Korea Communications Commission is a tactic that can only be used until the end of this year.

This is because the Korea Communications Commission’s authority will be deemed unconstitutional next year.

Anyway, I suspect that SBC [Seoul Broadcasting System], after receiving a call from the Korea Communications Commission, recognized Jin Hye-kyung’s connection to me and sent her to resolve the issue amicably.

“They’re broadcasting an apology.”

[On the 26th, SBC broadcast footage of Attorney Cha Joo-han’s broadcast appearance on News 9 while reporting on the suspect in the Lee Jung-chan murder case. This act of disclosing information about a person under investigation whose criminal facts have not been clearly established violates reporting guidelines and has led to the perception that Attorney Cha Joo-han is a suspect. SBC has removed the replay and articles of the broadcast. We apologize for the confusion this has caused to viewers and Attorney Cha Joo-han.]

Kang Min-jae said, watching the apology broadcast displayed on a blue screen with white text after the news segment.

Of course, he still looked displeased.

Even though I stated I would take action, I considered how to effectively communicate the problematic nature of their behavior to broadcasting companies that might dismiss it with a ‘what’s the big deal, just file a lawsuit’ attitude.

The solution was to convey our position to Jin Hye-kyung and have her report it positively.

In return, I offered to drop the lawsuit against SBC.

However, that didn’t completely alleviate my anger. Thinking of it as the price for using SBC as my megaphone for the time being made it more palatable than receiving a paltry sum in compensation.

Besides,

“Oh, I guess they’re going to start now.”

They decided to cover this case on a current affairs program.

The program title filled the screen with its unique signal, and the current affairs program MC [Master of Ceremonies, host] in a suit walked out holding a cue card.

“Attorney, you must have mixed feelings. It hasn’t been that long since you appeared on the show because of your friend’s case, and now you’re the main subject,” Office Manager Oh said, laughing heartily.

It was a laugh that conveyed both absurdity and amusement.

I felt the same way.

I never imagined this would happen when I appeared on this program earlier this year because of Dongjin’s case.

“Damn, I’m going to appear more often than the profiler who’s a regular on this show.”

When Jo Bong-joon chuckled, Office Manager Oh added that it wasn’t a bad thing.

“I don’t think it would be bad to aim for a regular spot this time? You can also raise your profile. The profiler who advises this program has become quite famous.”

Advising a broadcasting station is more work than you think.

I shook my head firmly.

[……What overturned the statement of the first witness was another witness that the police couldn’t find.]

“Oh, it’s Brother Suk-ja,” Kang Min-jae said.

I turned my gaze to the screen, where a homeless man with a blurred face appeared.

[At first, I was too scared to come forward. I thought who would believe me, a homeless person… But it’s about saving people. I know who the murderer is. I thought it wouldn’t be difficult for me to say a word, and if I didn’t, it would be like ruining the life of a promising person, so I finally mustered up the courage. Rather, I’m sorry that an innocent person suffered because I showed up late.]

“Oh, Brother Suk-ja. He’s lying convincingly.”

“Didn’t that homeless man come forward because they said they would give him money?”

“That’s right.”

“Ugh, you human. Look at him pretending to be righteous. It’s disgusting, it’s disgusting.”

“Well, his daughter is getting married, and he’s been a bad parent all his life. I guess he wanted to pretend to be cool for once.”

Kang Min-jae clicked his tongue.

[Mr. Kim not only witnessed the murder scene but also picked up a handkerchief that the criminals had dropped. The handkerchief contained traces of former Representative Lee Jung-chan’s skin tissue, anesthetic, and dirt.]

We handed over the handkerchief and the stenographic record containing the homeless man’s statement to the police. Based on this, the police completed the investigation of the meter reader and CEO Shin, sent them to the prosecution, and revealed the evidence through a briefing.

We submitted explanatory data, stating that they conducted additional investigations based on this information to complete the evidence, ensuring that no one would know we were the ones who found and submitted the evidence.

I didn’t want to take credit in this situation and felt it was necessary to give the police some recognition for the future, so we refrained from adding any comments.

“It’s so annoying that they’re pretending they investigated it,” Jo Bong-joon complained.

“Hey, Attorney Cha told you to think of it as an investment for the future. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be arrested someday, and Attorney Cha will have done this favor for the police, so you’ll be released nicely?”

“Aish, you have to give an example. Why would I be arrested?”

“The way you act, I think you’ll be arrested someday.”

Leaving the two of them arguing behind, I focused on the broadcast.

[The place where Mr. Kim witnessed the murder scene is here. However, the place pointed out by the witness secured by the police is on the opposite side. However, the anesthetic and the deceased’s DNA on the handkerchief secured by Mr. Kim clearly showed that the handkerchief was used in the crime. Fortunately, the soil composition of the places pointed out by the two witnesses was different, so we decided to investigate the components of the dirt on the handkerchief.

-The dirt on the handkerchief contained freshwater plankton and dust from construction sites…….]

As the analyst’s interview aired, Jo Bong-joon slammed the desk and shouted.

“No, Min-jae came up with that! It pisses me off that they’re acting like the police came up with it. If it’s known that it’s evidence we secured, Attorney Cha’s office will be even more successful, and then Attorney Cha will invest more in our broadcast!”

I wondered why he was so upset, but this was the reason.

Kang Min-jae was touched that he was angry on his behalf, but also disappointed.

“I knew it. There’s no way Hyung [older brother or close male friend] would do it purely for me…….”

The current affairs program was coming to an end.

Choi Jong-hyun, who had been searching the internet for reactions throughout the broadcast, showed us the real-time popular search terms with considerable satisfaction.

[Lee Jung-chan Wooshin]

Even though the current broadcast content focused on identifying the real culprit, the search results were already dominated by stories about Wooshin.

[Mr. Sung, who instigated the murder of the deceased, was working as the chief of staff for the president of a large corporation. He has been fired since the incident, but Mr. Sung is still denying the charges. Why did Mr. Sung commission the murder? We went to see acquaintances who knew Mr. Sung well.]

“Why? It’s because Lee Jung-chan was going to hand over the Wooshin complaint data. Why don’t they talk about that?” Choi Jong-hyun crossed his arms and complained.

His argument was that even though they had already revealed on the broadcast why I and Lee Jung-chan met on the day of the incident and had evidence to support it, the reporting on this aspect was weak.

I felt the same way.

However, I understood the broadcasting station’s decision.

Despite the compelling circumstances, they were likely hesitant to report on this definitively due to potential repercussions.

It’s probable that they conducted all the necessary coverage, but it was cut right before the broadcast.

If the murdered target wasn’t a prominent figure like Lee Jung-chan, Wooshin would have likely ignored it and allowed the broadcast to air, assuming it would be forgotten eventually.

It’s a bitter truth, but that’s the reality.

There are countless cases where Wooshin has taken people’s lives in that way.

Even in my previous life, there were numerous incidents, starting with Antrozol Alpha.

Various media outlets have voiced criticism about this.

Nevertheless, the fact that Wooshin blocked the broadcast from explicitly mentioning ‘Wooshin’ in this case demonstrates their sense of crisis.

[Mr. Sung harbored a strong dislike for Lee Jung-chan. I saw him several times due to work issues, and he mentioned that he had been subjected to very insulting remarks from Lee Jung-chan……]

Oh, is this their angle?

Lee Jung-chan regularly mistreated Sung In-ho, and Sung In-ho killed him out of pent-up resentment?

It seems Ko Yoon-soo is planning to escape responsibility by portraying it as a personal issue, emphasizing that Sung In-ho’s title was merely the secretary of Wooshin Group’s eldest son.

Of course, if that happens, the reason they framed me as a suspect will remain unexplained. But perhaps they’ll vaguely attribute it to ‘He happened to be with Lee Jung-chan that day, so it seemed convenient to frame him’?

“It seems like SBC is trying to soften the blow?”

“It seems so.”

Choi Jong-hyun, who appeared to be thinking the same thing, exclaimed quickly, “Wow.”

“They have to broadcast an apology because of us, but they can’t criticize Wooshin too harshly. Since many people will be watching this broadcast, they’re going to suggest that it wasn’t Wooshin who commissioned the murder through its secretary, but rather that it was the secretary’s personal vendetta.”

“Damn, are those SBC bastards so desperate for Wooshin’s advertisements? Are they even journalists if they’re doing that?”

[Mr. Sung, who harbored a strong dislike for the deceased, appeared at Hwagun Reservoir on the day of the incident, handed a money bag to suspect Shin, and was identified by suspect Park as the instigator of the murder. Perhaps the deceased’s downfall presented a favorable opportunity for Mr. Sung. Can we dismiss the possibility that he is not innocent?]

The final comment aired, and Jo Bong-joon jumped up.

And shouted.

“Damn! Turn on the broadcast! I can’t stand it because it’s so unfair!”