Court to rule soon on injunction to stop airing of Yoon's wife's alleged phone calls

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- A court is expected to make its ruling Friday on an injunction seeking to stop a TV station from broadcasting the recordings of phone calls between the wife of opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and a reporter.

The injunction was filed by Kim Keon-hee, Yoon's wife, to stop MBC from airing recordings of her phone conversations with a staff member of the YouTube channel Voice of Seoul last year. The broadcasting was set for Sunday.

The recordings, running some seven hours, reportedly contain criticism of the Moon Jae-in government and remarks on some politically sensitive issues.

Having held a hearing on the case earlier in the day, the Seoul Western District Court plans to deliberate on the arguments of both sides by 4 p.m. and announce its conclusion within the day, officials said.

Kim's side has argued the airing would be illegal, because the phone conversations were private, while MBC has retorted the broadcasting will serve the public interest and help voters evaluate the wife of a major presidential candidate.

Kim previously came under fire for allegedly falsifying her credentials on job applications and issued a public apology at the party's headquarters.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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