Japanese journalist acquitted of defaming Park

A Japanese journalist was acquitted Thursday of charges that he defamed South Korean President Park Geun-hye in print.

The Seoul Central District Court handed down the not guilty verdict to Tatsuya Kato, the former Seoul bureau chief for Japan's conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper, who was charged with defaming Park by writing an article last year that listed rumors about the reasons Park was absent during the ferry disaster last year that killed more than 300 people.

Seoul prosecutors previously demanded the court to hand down an 18-month prison term for Kato. (Yonhap)