Prosecutors have summoned a reporter who revealed a recorded conversation by the chairman of a private scholarship foundation linked to Saenuri Party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye.

The journalist, Choi Sung-jin, working for the Hankyoreh newspaper, is accused of illegally eavesdropping on the talks between Choi Phil-lip, chairman of the Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation, and senior officials from MBC.

He reported on Oct. 13 and Oct. 15 that they met at the foundation chairman’s office in central Seoul and discussed a plan to sell the foundation’s shares in MBC and the Busan Ilbo newspaper and use the proceeds to help university students in Busan and the Gyeongsang provinces.

The region has emerged as a key battleground for the Dec. 19 presidential race. Park’s presidential rivals, Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo, both hail from the region which has been traditionally the stronghold of the ruling party.

MBC filed a complaint against the reporter on charge of violating the Communications Privacy Protection Law.

While checking the phone records of people involved in the case, the prosecution learned that the chairman and the reporter had been connected by phone during chairman Choi’s talks with MBC officials to discuss the sale of the shares.

The prosecutors said they are discussing with the reporter the timing for questioning, which will focus on whether he recorded the conversation on the phone.

Park’s father and late former President Park Chung-hee seized the Bu-il Scholarship Foundation from a businessman after his 1961 coup and then combined it with other institutions to establish the current Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation in 1962.

Park’s daughter Park Geun-hye was the foundation’s chairperson from 1995 to 2005.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)