By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Some 1,000 Korean-Americans have filed a lawsuit against MBC program, ``PD Notebook,'' which they claim broadcast incorrect information on American beef, causing humiliation to them among fellow Americans.
The Lawyers for Citizens, a lawyers' group, filed the suit to the Seoul Southern District Court on behalf of ethnic Korean-Americans, Monday.
The plaintiffs demanded MBC and directors of the program pay 1 million won ($770) in compensation per person and air a correction and apology.
``The program about mad cow disease humiliated the Korean-Americans who have eaten American beef daily,'' Lee Hun, a member of the organization, said. ``The plaintiffs were ridiculed by other Americans over the program and following candlelit protests against American beef imports.''
Last April, the program showed downer cows in American farms and gave the impression that they were infected with mad cow disease and linked the cause of an American woman's death to the disease.
The program triggered concern about the safety of American beef and helped ignite the months-long candlelit vigils against the beef imports nationwide. In July, a court ordered that MBC air a correction over its ``incorrect'' reporting of the disease.
Lawyers for Citizens and ``Nono Demo,'' a civic coalition against the candlelit rallies, gathered Korean-American participants for the collective action through street campaigns in the United States from August to November.
The two organizations had already filed another 2.5-billion-won compensation suit in September with 2,469 Koreans here, claiming the distorted, false program caused massive social confusion. Another 300 Koreans are planning to file a compensation suit with the group next week.