Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Journalist's guilty verdict upheld for revealing name, photo of child abuser
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By Jung Min-ho
The Supreme Court has upheld a guilty verdict for a journalist who was indicted in 2019 on a charge of revealing the name and photo of a child abuser in his news reports.
The top court on Wednesday upheld the lower court ruling that handed a suspended fine of 1 million won ($730) to the JTBC reporter surnamed Song for violating the anti-child abuse law that bans media reporting of the personal information of child abusers and their victims — an article drafted mainly for the protection of children.
Song’s lawyer argued that he was innocent because he reported the issue with the consent of the victims and their parents, saying the law was being manipulated to protect the abuser, not the children.
Yet the Supreme Court rejected the argument and finalized the suspended sentence.
In 2022, the Seoul Western District Court said the means Song used to achieve his stated goal of protecting the victims could not be justified, imposing a fine of 1 million won on him.
An appellate upheld the ruling a year later, saying the consent of the victims and their legal guardians alone is insufficient to justify his violation of the law, which was enacted for such victims’ healthly development in the long run.
After his reports, the child abuser was convicted of abusing her students and put behind bars. She was given 18 months in prison.
Unlike in countries such as the United States or Japan, journalists in Korea are not legally permitted to reveal personal information of criminal suspects unless they are “public figures” — top-level government officials and celebrities, among others.
Legal risks are higher for reporting on child abusers due to the anti-child abuse law.
But if criminal suspects meet certain conditions, including strong evidence secured for their crimes and the high level of their cruelty demonstrated, a seven-member committee under the National Police Agency can hold a meeting to decide whether to reveal their names and pictures to the public.