Prosecutors Drop Defamation Charges Against Rep. Boo Seung-chan Over Cheongong Allegations

Prosecutors have decided not to indict Democratic Party lawmaker Boo Seung-chan (former Ministry of National Defense spokesperson), who raised allegations involving a geomancer known as "Cheongong," concluding that the charges of defamation were not established.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by acting Senior Prosecutor Kim Ho-kyung) announced today (September 27) that it had disposed of the information and communications network-based defamation case involving a total of six individuals—including Rep. Boo, former Justice Party lawmaker Kim Jong-dae, and reporters who covered the allegations—as "no charges."

Rep. Boo, who served as the final Ministry of National Defense spokesperson under the Moon Jae-in administration, was filed for complaints by the presidential office in December 2022 during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration after claiming through media interviews and his book that Cheongong was involved in the relocation of the presidential residence.

Rep. Boo claimed that on April 1, 2022, he heard from former Army Chief of Staff Nam Young-shin that "Cheongong visited the official residence of the Army Chief of Staff in Hannam-dong and the Army Seoul Office along with a high-ranking official from the Presidential Transition Committee."

Former lawmaker Kim Jong-dae was co-reported after raising related suspicions on broadcaster Kim Eo-jun's TBS radio program "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory."

Initially, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Cyber Crime Investigation Unit investigated the case and transferred it to prosecutors in 2023, concluding that the claims by Rep. Boo and others were false because Cheongong had not visited the Army Chief of Staff's residence or the Army Seoul Office within the Ministry of Defense compound.

Specifically, police viewed that Rep. Boo and others had defamed former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, who served as the deputy team leader of the Blue House Relocation Task Force under the Presidential Transition Committee and later as a minister in the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

It was later revealed that the person who actually visited the official residence of the Army Chief of Staff was Baek Jae-kwon, an adjunct professor at Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and an expert in feng shui.

However, prosecutors who took over the case reviewed the parliamentary audit records and legal principles, determining that the acts did not constitute defamation given that Rep. Boo and others had reason to mistakenly believe the suspicions were true and raised them for the public interest.

Prosecutors explained, "We confirmed the fact that a person wearing a mask and having a facial appearance and attire similar to Cheongong visited the Army Chief of Staff's official residence alongside the deputy team leader of the Blue House Relocation TF (former Minister Kim Yong-hyun), and that (this individual) was reported within the military as 'Cheongong.'"

Additionally, prosecutors stated that regarding Kim Eo-jun and one daily newspaper reporter who were previously cleared by the police not to be sent for prosecution, they determined there were no illegal or unjust aspects in the police's decision and returned the non-prosecution records.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.