High Court Rules In Favor of PD Notebook

A high court ruled in favor of MBC TV's PD Notebook, Wednesday, in an appeal filed by 462 people who demanded compensation for psychological damage caused by the program's alleged distorted reporting on U.S. beef.

In September, 2008, 2,455 people filed a class action against MBC, the program directors and writers, demanding 2.5 billion won ($1.7 million) in compensation. However, only 462 appealed a lower court ruling.

The Seoul High Court said, "There is no explicit evidence that the program worked as a direct trigger for candlelit protests against the government. Neither is there causality between the program and damage claimed by the plaintiffs."

Still, it upheld the lower court ruling that information in the program may have been "partially inaccurate."

In April 2008, an episode of the program suggested that people who consume U.S. beef could contract the human form of "mad cow disease." The content enraged numerous citizens upset with a decision to resume American beef imports, resulting in tens of thousands of people taking to the streets of downtown Seou.l. calling for it to be reversed.