SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- A group of South Korean artists filed complaints against two former presidents, asking for a prosecution investigation over the allegation of an "artist blacklist."
Yonhap news agency reported on Monday that lawyers of the five celebrities, including veteran actor Moon Sung-Keun, comedian Kim Mi-Hwa and actress Kim Gyu-ri, have filed the case with the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office against former president Lee Myung-bak, Park Geun-hye and other six senior officials.
They requested an investigation into whether the former Lee administration indeed ordered the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to create an "artist blacklist" to ban entertainers critical of the government from the mainstream media.
A task force of the NIS announced earlier this month that the spy body during Lee's rule from 2009 to 2013 was suspected of making a blacklist of left-leaning culture figures. It has sparked outrage from the arts and entertainment industry.
The list allegedly had 82 names, including filmmakers, actors, singers, novelists and TV personalities, similar to the blacklist compiled under the Park administration.
Park is being investigated after her impeachment in March.
A top aide close to Park was sentenced to three years in July for blacklisting more than 9,000 artists.
