Kim Man-bae, a key suspect behind a politically charged property development scandal, denied allegations Thursday that he had attempted to manipulate a media interview story to influence last year’s presidential election.

Kim made the remarks as he was discharged from the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, south of Seoul, shortly after midnight, as his six-month detention period expired and a court rejected the prosecution’s request for the extension of Kim’s detention.

The journalist-turned-property developer was indicted in March in connection with the development project in the district of Daejang-dong in Seongnam City, pushed for in the mid-2010s while opposition leader Lee Jae-myung served as the mayor of the city.

Kim is facing fresh suspicions of fabricating a media interview story carried by Newstapa in collaboration with Shin Hak-lim, a journalist with the news outlet, in a suspected attempt to drag President Yoon Suk Yeol, then an opposition presidential candidate, into the development scandal.

The interview story was released just three days ahead of the March 9 presidential election in 2022.

Kim on Thursday claimed he just had a private conversation with Shin without knowing that it was being recorded and would be released as an interview story.

“I wasn’t aware that the personal conversation was being recorded,” he said. Kim also denied allegations that he had attempted to influence the presidential election with the interview. “I am not that powerful person.”

He also defended his decision to buy three copies of Shin’s book for 165 million won (US$123,500), an extremely high price that raised suspicions that the money was paid to Shin in exchange for running the interview story.

“Shin is a highly accomplished journalist, and I bought his books because I thought they had that much value,” Kim said.

Later on Thursday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office brought in Shin for questioning on bribery charges, a move that followed a prosecution raid of his home and office last week.

Prosecutors plan to grill Shin on the reasons behind the controversial interview and whether he had collaborated with Kim on the matter.

Source: Yonhap News Agency