The Supreme Court on Thursday finalized a fine of 1.5 million won (US$1,113) each for two reporters of MBC TV for posing as police officers in 2021 while investigating allegations that first lady Kim Keon-hee plagiarized her doctoral thesis.

The reporters were accused of introducing themselves as police officers and asking for the whereabouts of the doctoral adviser for the first lady in 2021, when President Yoon Seok Yeol was a presidential candidate of the People Power Party (PPP).

They allegedly went to the former address of the adviser in Paju, 37 kilometers northeast of Seoul, then called the owner of a car parked outside to ask where the professor currently lives.

Prosecutors also applied charges of trespassing, accusing them of wandering outside the residence and trying to peek inside through a window.

The district court sentenced the two reporters to pay fines of 1.5 million won each but acquitted them of the trespassing charges, citing a lack of evidence.

The appeals court upheld the lower court
‘s ruling, and the top court also dismissed the appeals Thursday, saying no legal principles were violated in the previous rulings.

Source: Yonhap News Agency