By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

Prosecutors said Tuesday that MBC's ``PD Notebook'' had intentionally distorted facts to exaggerate the risks of American beef.

The broadcasting company responded immediately by dismissing the prosecution's interim conclusion.

``We reached the conclusion after reviewing relevant reports published in the U.S. and interviewing those who participated in making the film including translators and mad cow disease experts,'' said Im Soo-bin, a chief prosecutor, at a press conference. ``Even though MBC did not hand over the original recordings to us, we were able to collect almost 90 percent of them.''

The prosecution will indict directors of the program on charges of defaming the government and spreading false rumors if they fail to offer evidence invalidating the findings within the next two weeks, Lim said.

An episode of PD Notebook aired on April 29 reported there was a high chance that an American woman, Aretha Vinson, who died on April 9 from neurodegenerative disease symptoms, had variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the possible human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), more commonly known as mad cow disease. The program also reported that all ``downer'' cows were infected with BSE.

Prosecutors said despite 59 causes for downer cow symptoms, the program stated that the collapsed cows were suspected of being exposed to the brain-wasting disease. They also said that although the U.S. media raised other possible causes for Vinson's death, such as complications from her stomach resection surgery, PD Notebook never mentioned any. On May 5, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said the woman did not die of the disease.

The controversial MBC report touched off public anger over the resumption of U.S. beef imports, prompting tens of thousands of people to take to the Seoul streets leading to Cheong Wa Dae. The protest forced President Lee Myung-bak to replace 10 senior presidential aides on June 20, hoping the reshuffle would restore confidence in the new government.

A limited movement against the resumption of beef imports is still underway.

Following the report, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries asked the prosecution to investigate the program, arguing it mistranslated some medical terminology intentionally to exaggerate the risks of American beef.

Launching the inquiry in June, the prosecution asked MBC to hand over the original recordings to verify the allegation. But MBC refused the request, saying the investigation was part of the government's attempt to tame the media through lawsuits.

``MBC ignored the prosecution's request and has kept the original recordings. This apparently indicates they stretched the reporting,'' the chief prosecutor said.

MBC rebutted this, stating it had not distorted or mistranslated anything.

``All people involved including the experts we interviewed to produce the program can be reached by anybody including prosecutors. They will explain whether we are lying or not,'' said Cho Neung-hee, chief producer of PD Notebook. ``We will not offer the original recordings to the prosecution.''

pss@koreatimes.co.kr