Two tablets and six shadows. The tablet PC that ignited Park Geun-hye's impeachment, still unsolved suspicions and the intersection of power. Hankyoreh Shinbo Graphics

The tablet PC that ignited Park Geun-hye's impeachment, still unsolved suspicions and the intersection of power. Hankyoreh Shinbo Graphics

The impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye ignited with two tablet PCs.

The first tablet, revealed by JTBC in October 2016, was the spark that led to the National Assembly's impeachment motion, and the second tablet, submitted by Jang Si-ho in January 2017, swayed public opinion just before the Constitutional Court's impeachment ruling.

However, the origins of how both devices were obtained are unclear, and identifying their users is difficult, leading to them not being accepted as legal evidence.

Nevertheless, their political impact was immense. At the time, the prosecution and the special prosecutor presented the tablets as 'decisive evidence,' and the media reported them as top news daily, fueling the candlelight protests.

However, looking back now, the prosecution's briefings and the media's exclusive reports were based on flimsy grounds, and the tablets were consumed as tools to strengthen the political narrative.

Three prosecutors and three journalists were entangled in this process: Jo Eun-seok, Noh Seung-kwon, and Lee Gyu-cheol; and Son Suk-hee, Lee Jin-dong, and Kim Eui-gyeom.

Three prosecutors played key roles in this process.

Based on the testimony of Kim Eui-gyeom, a current Democratic Party lawmaker, Jo Eun-seok, then prosecutor general of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, was identified as a hidden link in the impeachment structure. Kim testified that he received a tip from Jo Eun-seok around the time of a Hankyoreh report on August 19, 2016, stating that Choi Soon-sil was behind the creation of the Mir and K-Sports foundations by twisting the arms of the chaebols.

Kim later remarked in an interview with Jeonbuk CBS radio (August 3, 2025) that "without Jo Eun-seok, there would have been no report, no candlelight, and no impeachment."

Noh Seung-kwon, then deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, announced in a briefing on October 26, 2016, that "text messages from former secretary Jeong Ho-seong were found on the tablet," which turned out to be false, sparking controversy over a misleading briefing.

Lee Gyu-cheol, then special prosecutor's assistant (deputy prosecutor general of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office), explained in a briefing on January 11, 2017, that "the patterns on the tablet submitted by Jang Si-ho matched," but it was not recognized in court due to a lack of specific evidence.

Three figures from the media world were also intertwined.

Son Suk-hee, then president of JTBC, led the reporting on the first tablet. He presented the frame that "Choi Soon-sil interfered in state affairs" to the public, but caused confusion and raised questions about credibility by repeatedly changing the reporter's name from "Shim Su-mi" to "Legal Team Leader" regarding how the tablet was obtained.

Lee Jin-dong, then head of the social affairs division at TV Chosun (currently CEO of Newsverse), was the first to investigate clues related to Choi Soon-sil. He even secured CCTV footage from the tailor shop, but it was scrapped due to pressure from the Blue House and an internal policy against publication. He later testified, "I saw the truth melting away with my own eyes."

 Kim Eui-gyeom, then a Hankyoreh reporter (currently a Democratic Party lawmaker), brought the suspicions into public discourse with his report that "Choi Soon-sil was behind the chaebols." He later served as spokesperson for the Blue House and is now a member of the National Assembly, but he continues to testify about the impeachment structure, maintaining that "without Jo Eun-seok, there would have been no impeachment."

Time has passed, and on September 5, 2025, the case resurfaced during a damages lawsuit trial held at the Civil Division 25 of the Seoul Central District Court, concerning former Supreme Prosecutors' Office official Kim Young-cheol.

This was because Byun Hee-jae, president of Media Watch, claimed in court that "Jang Si-ho attempted suicide due to pressure and is currently hospitalized." He urged for a swift decision, stating, "The situation becomes more dangerous if time is dragged out." The court ordered to "finalize the decision on whether to summon Jang Si-ho as a witness and the method of proof by October 17."

Byun's statement is not merely a personal matter but brings to light the coercion and pressure tactics involved in the investigation at the time, as well as the tablet incident itself.

Currently, the paths of these six individuals diverge.

Jo Eun-seok stands at the center of controversy as a "political prosecutor" for indicting former President Yoon Suk-yeol as the head of the special prosecutor for sedition.

Noh Seung-kwon is working as a lawyer after retiring from the prosecution, and Lee Gyu-cheol is also continuing his legal practice.

Son Suk-hee has left the journalism field but is still remembered as a symbolic figure of the tablet reporting.

Lee Jin-dong is forging a path in independent journalism as the CEO of Newsverse, and Kim Eui-gyeom is wielding influence in politics as a current member of the Democratic Party.

Ultimately, the two tablets and the six individuals created a major turning point in modern Korean history at the intersection of politics, media, and the prosecution.

The circumstances of Jang Si-ho's suicide attempt have reignited the controversy over coercion and pressure tactics during the investigation, demonstrating that the tablet incident was not simply about a device but a structural issue born from the triangle of politics, law, and media.

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