The prosecution has reportedly decided not to indict a co-author of the book 'Yoon Suk-yeol X-file' for allegedly manipulating a contract to unjustly pocket revenue of several million won from book sales. The police had forwarded the case to the prosecution, acknowledging some of the allegations, but the prosecution overturned this.

In June 2022, the ‘Yoon Suk-yeol X-file’ containing details verifying Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is displayed in a large bookstore in downtown Seoul. / Courtesy of News1

According to the legal community on the 13th, the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office dismissed charges against a person surnamed Kim, a former member of the YouTube channel Open Mind TV (currently a citizen media outlet called The Investigation) and a co-author of the Yoon Suk-yeol X-file, citing insufficient evidence.

This book was published in February 2022, just over a month before the 20th presidential election. It contains allegations surrounding then-presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, First Lady Kim Keon-hee, and her mother-in-law, Choi Eun-soon.

Mr. Kim is accused of having altered certain provisions of the contract arbitrarily during the settlement process for the publishing and distribution fee with The Investigation in April 2022, and siphoning off an amount equivalent to 53 million won.

At the time of the contract, Mr. Kim had agreed to take revenue calculated as '15% of the book sale price minus bookstore profits' multiplied by the print run, but about five months later, it is noted that he presented a contract with the phrase 'minus bookstore profits' deleted, thereby pocketing unjust revenue.

The Investigation filed a complaint against Mr. Kim with the police in October 2023, along with this information, on charges of fraud and forgery of private documents. The Nowon Police Station in Seoul referred the case to the prosecution in January of last year.

However, the prosecution has reportedly decided not to indict Mr. Kim.

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