By Bae Ji-sook
Staff reporter
Kim Sung-hoon, former agriculture minister, filed a damage suit against the conservative daily Chosun Ilbo, Monday, claiming that the paper intentionally misquoted him in an article on American beef on May 11.
The former Cabinet member said the newspaper intentionally made up stories and omitted several key facts he had mentioned during an interview.
He said he was branded a "hypocrite" afterwards, asking for 300 million won ($250,000) in compensation and for a correctional article to be printed.
According to the Seoul Central District Court, the problematic part of the "in-depth featured article" was when Kim mentioned his trip to the U.S. where he ate several hamburgers. The paper quoted him saying, "Those burgers were made from beef under 30 months old, fed organic plants."
The paper reported that Kim was one of those who had opposed imports of U.S. beef due to the risk of human mad cow disease, but within two years, changed his view to "what mattered was the negotiation procedure, not the beef."
Kim, however, denied the paper's report, saying: "What I told the newspaper was that even U.S. citizens are aware of the risks of mad cow disease and the fear forces them to prefer organic burgers."
He said the article portrayed him badly and that his dignity was tarnished. "I answered the questions sincerely hoping that people would understand the gravity of the resumption of beef imports.
However, the newspaper portrayed me as a conman who enjoys trotting around the U.S. with hamburgers in his mouth just a couple of years after his opposition to the move. I am still against the resumption of talks and I can still warn people about its possible risks," he said.
Kim, who served as agricultural minister in 1998, has constantly opposed the import of U.S. beef, especially beef more than 30 months old, which was once widely believed to cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. The was a huge issue at the time inciting around 2 million people to take to the streets in candlelit rallies and lowering the President's approval rating to below 10 percent in 2008.
For the Chosun Ilbo, the suit may just be the beginning of a lengthy legal dispute: Professor Woo Hee-jong of Seoul National University is also planning to refer relevant articles to the Press Arbitration Committee and many other interviewees have openly said they are considering similar suits.