By Yi Whan-woo
A court has dismissed a lawmaker’s demand for financial compensation from a weekly magazine for reporting that he allegedly received bribes from police chief Kim Ki-yong in 2005 for helping him get a promotion.
On Wednesday, Seoul Central District Court ruled that the Weekly Dong-A made a “convincing” report that Kim, then-head of the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul, gave expensive liquor to Rep. Choi Jae-chun of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), asking the legislator to help him get promoted.
The court turned down Choi’s claim for 100 million won ($91,000) in compensation for tarnishing his reputation with allegedly false news.
The news story was published on April 27 last year when Kim, 55, was nominated as commissioner general of the National Police Agency following the abrupt resignation of his predecessor, Cho Hyun-oh.
The National Assembly planned to hold a confirmation hearing on Kim on May 1. The Weekly Dong-A raised the suspicion that he had shady connections with Choi, 49, who was a member of the then-ruling Uri Party, the predecessor of the DUP.
According to the report, Kim visited Choi’s house in December 2005 with a couple of bottles of imported whisky and asked the lawmaker to help him get the promotion by peddling his influence with high-ranking police officials.
The news rocked the country although Kim took the post as the commissioner general following the National Assembly hearing. Both Kim and Choi denied the allegations and the latter sued the magazine.
The court said the report was based on testimony from an informant with convincing evidence. It added the Weekly Dong-A did not have to post a correction notice regarding the report on Kim and Choi.