Nude Photo Costs Munhwa W150 Mil.

Shin Jeong-ah

By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

A Seoul court Wednesday ordered the Munhwa Ilbo local daily and its managing editor to pay 150 million won ($113,000) in compensation to Shin Jeong-ah for printing her nude photo in its paper. The paper was also ordered to publish a correction regarding its controversial articles alleging she had sex with key figures in the arts circle in exchange for influence peddling for her social success. Shin is currently serving a prison term for fraud in which she falsified her degrees to get a university job.

In the ruling at the Seoul Central District Court, presiding judge Han Ho-hyung said, ``The publication of her nude photo infringed upon her privacy and made people believe that she had indeed lobbied key figures through romance with them. But we found no concrete evidence.''

However, the court confirmed the nude photo was genuine, dismissing Shin's allegation that the photo was doctored.

On Sept. 13 last year when Shin was at the center of the diploma forgery scandal, the newspaper published her nude picture with her private parts blurred along with articles claiming she had committed ``sex lobbying.''

In October last year, the former Dongguk University professor was convicted of fabricating her academic records, which stated that she had graduated from top U.S. universities including Yale.

At the height of the scandal, the prosecution confirmed she had maintained a romantic relationship with former presidential policy planner Byeon Yang-kyoon, who pressured Dongguk University officials in 2005 to hire Shin. In exchange for her employment, the former Chung Wa Dae official promised to help the school get government subsidies. He also put pressure on major firms to donate funds to an art museum where Shin was a curator since 2005. Byeon was also convicted of abusing power.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr