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| Tatsuya Kato, the former Seoul bureau chief of Sankei Shimbun, speaks at press conference held at Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, after being acquitted of defaming President Park Geun-hye. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Lee Kyung-min
A Japanese journalist was acquitted of defaming President Park Geun-hye in a report on her whereabouts during the Sewol ferry tragedy last year.
The Seoul Central District Court cleared Tatsuya Kato, the former Seoul bureau chief of Sankei Shimbun, of defamation charges Thursday.
The court ruled that his column was journalistic material, and therefore should be protected under the freedom of expression, guaranteed by the Constitution.
While the court recognized that his column was factually incorrect, it said that he did not intend to defame the President as claimed by the prosecution, citing a lack of evidence.
"His column contained false information, as well as allegations. However, it is not enough to determine that he intentionally ran the column for the sole purpose of libeling President Park," Judge Lee Dong-geun said in the ruling.
Kato was indicted October last year for writing a column on Aug. 3, about a rumor that President Park Geun-hye was with former aide Jeong Yun-hoe for seven hours on April 16 while the Sewol ferry was sinking, alleging the two were in a romantic relationship.
More than 300 people, mostly students on a school trip, perished in the nation's worst maritime disaster.
Earlier, the prosecution had demanded an 18-month prison term claiming that he ran the column with the intention of libeling the President.
However, the court said that he had no such an intention, saying he only meant to deliver reports on politics and social issues here, which the Japanese public takes a keen interest in.
Although the court accepted Kato's claim that he wrote the column based on an article published in the Chosun Ilbo, it said he fell short of showing journalistic integrity.
"Given that he is a foreign correspondent, he is held to a relatively less stringent journalistic standard than his Korean counterparts. But, he did not put in as much effort into confirm whether the rumor was truthful or not," Lee said.
The court also accepted Kato's claim that the President's whereabouts is a public matter, especially regarding the seven hours unaccounted for, when the Sewol was sinking.
Following the ruling, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) expressed hope that Kato's acquittal will help improve strained bilateral ties between the two countries.
Earlier in the day, MOFA said that it had asked the Ministry of Justice to consider Japan's request for leniency on Kato.
Meanwhile, Kato's indictment drew concerns from a large number of foreign correspondents here, as it was seen as symbolic move by the government to control the free press.
Kato had been banned from leaving the country for eight months from August last year until April this year, after the Seoul Administrative Court repeatedly extended a travel ban on him.
Only after the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club expressed concerns over such a move, saying it was aimed at restricting the freedom of the press, did the court lift the ban.
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