By Jung Min-ho
President Park Geun-hye is caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of her dealings with the media.
If Cheong Wa Dae drops a defamation case against the Segye Ilbo, the vernacular newspaper that first reported the “memogate” scandal, it could face criticism for applying different standards to those it showed with Sankei Shimbun, an ultraconservative Japanese newspaper, which also faces legal action filed by the presidential office for publishing an insinuating piece about Park’s alleged absence during the first seven hours of the Sewol tragedy in April last year.
Prosecutors concluded that the leaked documents, which claim that a former aide to President Park tried to exert undue influence on state affairs, was fabricated by two other disgruntled presidential aides. Now, they are looking into whether the reports published in the Segye Ilbo and Sisa Journal amount to defamation against the people mentioned in the documents.
If indicted, the reporters could face up to seven years in prison and/or 15 million won ($13,600) in fines.
Yet prosecutors have to prove that the companies reported the case with the intention of defaming their reputations. The Korean defamation law focuses on whether what was said or written was in the public interest – rather than whether it was true.
“Since Segye reported the case based on the official presidential documents, it will be difficult to punish the reporters,” Prof. Yang Seung-mock, who teaches journalism at Seoul National University, told The Korea Times. “Watching whether the government abuses its power is one of media’s responsibilities. The report appears to be in the public interest.”
Referring to the fact that it took more than a month for prosecutors to close the case, Yang said that it shows how difficult it is for the media, which have no investigation rights, to precisely discern facts.
Prosecutors are trying to find how the reporters obtained the documents and whether they made efforts to establish facts.
Segye and Sisa reporters have refused to disclose how they obtained information for their reports.
Cho Hyun-jin, former press officer in charge of foreign media at the presidential office, said the investigation into the media will likely further damage Korea’s national image.
“I don’t think that press freedom is suppressed in Korea, but how it appears to the world is a different matter,” he said. “The investigation will likely hurt the Korean government’s image.”
In fact, the government’s reputation is already faltering. On November 27, prosecutors began the trial in Seoul of Tatsuya Kato, a Japanese journalist accused of defaming President Park for reporting rumors that first apopeared in domestic media regarding her whereabouts on the day of the sinking of the Sewol passenger ferry.
Human Rights Watch opposes all criminal defamation laws as disproportionate and unnecessary responses to protect reputations, but which in turn, is limiting freedom of expression.
Wrapping up the case on Monday, prosecutors indicted three men — former Presidential Secretary Cho Eung-chon, Police Superintendent Park Gwan-cheon and another police officer, surnamed Han — on charges of leaking confidential information.