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Newspaper editor gets fined for defaming President Park

January 28, 2015

South Korean President Park Geun-hye speaks during her New Year’s press conference at the presidential Blue House in Seoul Monday, Jan. 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Jung Yeon-je)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — A Seoul court on Wednesday imposed fines on the chief editor of an Internet-based newspaper for reporting unfounded rumors about President Park Geun-hye and her brother ahead of the 2012 presidential election.

Baek Eun-jong, the chief editor of The Voice of Seoul, was found guilty of violating the Public Official Election Act and defaming the president and her younger brother, Park Ji-man, by publishing two articles.

In the article published ahead of the 2012 presidential election, Baek cited rumors that President Park and late pastor Choi Tae-min had an illegitimate son together.

In a separate article, Baek revisited a 2011 case in which the body of a nephew of the Park family was found on a hiking trail near Mount Bukhan in Seoul. Just three kilometers from the scene, another Park nephew was found hanging from a tree.

Wrapping up their investigation into the two cases, police had concluded that one nephew murdered the other before committing suicide by hanging himself due to financial disputes.

In his reports, Baek cited a legal dispute between Park Ji-man and his brother-in-law, arguing that Park was also involved in the crime.

“Baek defamed the defendants by repeatedly spreading false rumors without verifying relevant facts,” said judge Lee Bum-kyun of the Seoul Central District Court in his ruling.

“He should be heavily punished as he invaded the fairness of the election and disrupted voters’ choice during the presidential election.”

Earlier, a Seoul appellate court acquitted Joo Jin-woo, a reporter with the monthly news magazine Sisa IN, of publishing the same article about Park Ji-man.