Officials from civic groups, enraged by Sky Daily's (hereinafter referred to as 'SD') act of betrayal, are strongly warning in front of a building in Jung-gu, Seoul, where SD's office is located, on the morning of May 13th, stating, "A drastic change in tone betraying patriotic readers will lead to the newspaper's closure." 

Sky Daily's closure was not simply the result of financial difficulties. It was the culmination of self-censorship, where reports whose veracity had not been confirmed were themselves declared 'false.' The incident began in late September 2025 with a message posted in an internal KakaoTalk group by CEO Min Kyung-doo. He announced the liquidation of the company and the halt of publication, stating, "Due to accumulated internal and external difficulties, continued operation is no longer possible." From various quarters, the remark "as things should be" circulated upon seeing this announcement. However, this expression signified not the condemnation of false reporting, but rather a voluntary surrender before the truth was ascertained. 

When CEO Min took office in early April as the successor to former CEO Cho Jung-jin, he clearly answered key questions from the editorial department. The editorial department inquired twice about his stance on reports of electoral fraud and the May 18th incident. He responded, "Doubts about electoral fraud are my long-held conviction, and regarding May 18th, let's just approach it slowly." At the time, the editorial department respected this stance. However, shortly after taking office, CEO Min changed his tune and demoted key executives of the editorial department. As protests from the executives intensified, CEO Min Kyung-doo knelt and apologized to all employees, demonstrating his indecisiveness. Soon after, the editor-in-chief Ko Dong-seok and the chief editor, along with other major executives, agreed to form an internal fact-finding committee to verify the truth of the 'Chinese spy ring report' and the 'May 18th article.' 

However, in just over a month, CEO Min unilaterally published an 'Apology Regarding May 18th' on the front page. The 'Search for the Truth of May 18th' series had been extensively investigated and reported on for two full years by then-Special Investigative Bureau Chief Huh Gyeom (currently publisher of Hanmi Ilbo) and was not an issue that could be easily dismissed as a false report. Yet, CEO Min did not ask for Huh's opinion on the matter and, without properly investigating its veracity, rushed to publish the apology as if being chased. During this time, the fact-finding committee never convened. The space was originally left blank, but the apology was inserted around 5 PM, just before printing, while the editorial staff had already left for the day. The editorial department was not given prior notice. Consequently, this apology became a unilateral 'voluntary confession' pushed through without the editorial department's involvement. 

Subsequently, on August 14th, an 'Apology Regarding the Chinese Spy Ring Report' was published on the front page. Sky Daily concluded it was a false report after only one day of investigation. The apology was issued after hearing only the one-sided account of an official from the National Election Commission whom they had met the day before the report, August 13th. Again, the fact-finding committee was never held. Before admitting to a false report, it was essential to understand the entire reporting process with the journalist responsible for the coverage, Reporter Huh, but CEO Min completely failed to honor his promise. 

The background to this decision involved pressure from investigations and public opinion. At the time, the police had forwarded the Sky Daily case with four charges, but the prosecution initially decided not to indict on two counts and ordered further investigation on the other two. In other words, the truth of the case had not been legally determined. Nevertheless, Sky Daily itself declared it to be a "false report." Consequently, this choice remained the peak of self-censorship, defining 'reports of unconfirmed veracity' as 'fake news.' 

Many in the media industry labeled this as "the end of fake news." However, their arguments were based on only three points: First, the US Eighth Army's denial; second, the National Election Commission's rebuttal; and third, the claims of a person known as 'Captain Korea' (Capko, Ahn Byung-hee). However, these three grounds were not legally conclusive judgments. The US Eighth Army public affairs officer stated, "There are limitations to verification," and the National Election Commission's stance was merely the opinion of the complainant. The problematic 'Capko' also left room for doubt in a television interview regarding the timing and circumstances of his statements. The key point is that this individual was not the initial whistleblower. Nevertheless, broadcasting stations portrayed him as the 'main culprit,' and some media outlets distorted this into a "confession of fake news." 

The majority of media outlets did not acknowledge the fact that there has been no official statement from the newly inaugurated Donald Trump administration, which began on January 20th after the end of the Biden administration, confirming that the 'apprehension of the Chinese spy ring' was fake. Immediately after Sky Daily's initial report in January, the Trump administration issued a ban on social media at US military bases in Korea, Japan, and Hawaii. The locations of these US military bases coincide with the routes and movements of the spy ring being extradited to the United States as reported by Sky Daily. More than half of American citizens identified Biden as the primary beneficiary of electoral fraud in the US, and this overwhelming public opinion significantly contributed to President Trump's election. It was common sense that the Biden administration would not announce to the media that they had apprehended spies involved in electoral manipulation. However, most domestic media outlets, lacking a deep understanding of the electoral fraud mechanism, overlooked this and hastily concluded it was fake news. 

This time, disciplinary action was decided by a self-regulatory media organization. The Korea News Ethics Committee and the Internet News Ethics Committee imposed severe penalties on Sky Daily's reports. However, this process was based on unilaterally submitted materials. The journalists involved were not given an opportunity to present their case. Consequently, the self-regulatory bodies' decisions acted as a 'stigma before truth determination' and, diverging from the subsequent non-indictment decision by investigative agencies, revealed procedural imbalances. 

Ultimately, Sky Daily's closure was not the result of false reporting, but rather the outcome of the media's social responsibility to relentlessly pursue the truth being crushed by institutional pressure and internal confusion. CEO Min Kyung-doo, far from protecting his reporters, not only subjected them to unfavorable personnel actions but effectively drove them out, caving in preemptively without any external pressure. Such a humiliating act ultimately led to the feared outcome of closure. Freedom of the press was first undermined by internal fear rather than external power. Under CEO Min Kyung-doo's leadership, Sky Daily had been deceiving its readers, such as by never delivering the newspaper to paid subscribers or delaying refunds for subscription fees or donations under the pretense of ongoing police investigations. Criticisms such as "a newspaper with no tone, no integrity, lazy and incompetent" were frequent. Perhaps closing down on its own was an inevitable course of events. 

CEO Min should have heeded the valuable advice of the key editorial executives who had since moved to other media organizations. Their urgent plea, "You can never survive by betraying the public and readers," was a noble counsel that should apply to any journalist of this era. 

The truth is still unfolding. The destiny of the reporting has vanished, but the reporters are alive, and the records remain.