Telegram message strengthens rape case against former governor

Former South Chungcheong Governor An Hee-jung had his Telegram messenger's safety off, enabling his secretary Kim Ji-eun to take a screenshot and use it as evidence that strengthens her claim that An repeatedly raped her. / Korea Times file

By Jung Da-min

Was it former South Chungcheong Governor An Hee-jung's sloppiness or ignorance of his message service's special features?

A screenshot of chats on Telegram, the messenger service favored by security-conscious users, played a key role in strengthening the rape case against An.

That shot would not have been possible if An had set “safety” on. It is not sure whether he was careless or did not know of the feature.

The shot was revealed during the JTBC's news program that aired an interview in which An's secretary Kim Ji-eun made her first claim that An had repeatedly raped her.

An quit his governorship and is under prosecutors' investigation.

The shot showed the “lock” icon off. Users cannot make a screen shot or copy the message contents in the secret chat mode. The messages are automatically deleted afterward.

Telegram became popular here after it was revealed that the nation's leading messenger service Kakao gave user information to the prosecution in 2014.