JTBC’s Sohn denies allegation

Sohn Suk-hee, an anchor at the cable channel JTBC, is facing an allegation that he assaulted a freelance journalist. Sohn denied the accusation and reported the accuser to the police for blackmail, the police and Sohn said Thursday.

The freelance journalist, whose name was withheld, lodged a charge alleging the use of violence by Sohn with the police earlier in the day, accusing the JTBC anchor of punching him in the face several times during a dinner meeting in Seoul on Jan. 10, according to the police.

The journalist reportedly submitted a doctor’s certificate to the police indicating that his injury from the alleged assault requires three weeks of treatment.

“At the date of the incident, Sohn offered a job at JTBC and used violence after I rejected the offer,” the journalist said.

Having interrogated the accuser first, the police also demanded that Sohn show up for a police investigation, but no response has been given by his side, the police noted.

The JTBC chief immediately released a statement to the press on the same day that rejected the allegation against him.

“The content [of the accusation] raised by the other side is very far from the facts,” Sohn said in the statement. “[The freelance journalist] illegally solicited employment but threatened me as [the request] was not accepted.”

Sohn claimed that the accuser learned of a minor car accident he was involved in early 2017 and has since blackmailed him in return for a permanent job at JTBC, a demand Sohn rejected.

Yonhap