The Hankook Ilbo newspaper has dismissed a senior official of its newsroom who borrowed money from Kim Man-bae, a key figure in the Daejang-dong development scandal.

The daily carried a statement of apology on its front page on Friday, announcing that it decided to fire the official during a personnel committee meeting the previous day for violating the company's code of ethics and damaging its integrity and credibility.

The paper said the official borrowed 100 million won, or around 80-thousand U.S. dollars, from Kim in May 2020 to purchase a house, adding that the  interest payment schedule and rate were irregular.

Also on Friday, the JoongAng Ilbo carried a statement of apology on its second page over the discovery that a former senior official of the daily had lent 80 million won to Kim in 2018 and received 90 million won some seven months later including interest. The reporter then borrowed 100 million won from Kim in 2020.

The daily said it accepted this official’s resignation on Wednesday, five days after they were put on leave.

With the latest cases, three journalists who made financial transactions with Kim are no longer employed, with the Hankyoreh newspaper first releasing an apology on Tuesday after dismissing a senior reporter who borrowed 900 million won from Kim.