Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Chosun Ilbo loses suits involving late actress
By Kim Rahn
The Chosun Ilbo, one of the nation’s major conservative dailies, has lost two defamation suits against lawmakers and MBC, involving the late actress Jang Ja-yeon.
The Seoul Central District Court reached the verdict against the paper Wednesday, which had demanded Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Jong-kul and Democratic Labor Party Chairwoman Lee Jung-hee pay it 1 billion won each. The Chosun Ilbo claimed they defamed the daily by claiming executives of the newspaper were involved in a sex-for-favors scandal.
Jang, who killed herself in 2009, claimed in a letter that she was forced to offer sexual favors to entertainment industry heavyweights. It was rumored that there was a “Jang Ja-yeon list” of influential figures involved and that Chosun Ilbo executives were on it.
The two Lees mentioned the executives’ names during speeches at the National Assembly. The court said, “The executives in question were under a police investigation, and the lawmakers’ remarks were in the public interest.”
In another suit, against MBC, the ruling also went against the daily, which demanded the broadcaster pay 1 billion won, and anchor Shin Kyoung-min and an unnamed chief news editor, pay 300 million won each, for spreading false information.
In news reports aired in April 2009, Shin said, “It is the talk of the town that executives of a dominant newspaper were on the Jang Ja-yeon list. But the names have not been disclosed, proving how powerful the daily is.”
The court said, “The news was to announce an investigation would start on Jang’s case, so it was a matter of public interest.”