Court: "MBC Report on 'Namyang Dairy Founder’s Granddaughter Hwang Hana Paying 100 Million Won to Accomplice for Coercion' Is Lawful"

Hwang Hana Accomplice Jo Mo, Loses Second Trial for Correction Report and Damages Claim Lawsuit

Seoul High Court building in Seocho-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] A court ruling has found that a media report stating that Hwang Hana, the granddaughter of the founder of Namyang Dairy Products, bribed an accomplice who used drugs with her to make statements favorable to her was not illegal.

The ruling stated that it is difficult to view the report as false and that it can be seen as coverage of a matter of public interest, so no liability for defamation damages can be imposed.

According to the legal community on the 2nd, the Seoul High Court Civil Division 13 (Presiding Judges Kim Yong-bin, Park Jae-young, Lee Jung-hoon) upheld the first-instance ruling in the appeal trial of a correction and damages claim lawsuit filed by Hwang's accomplice Jo against MBC, ruling against the plaintiff.

The court explained, "Based on additional evidence submitted by MBC during the appeal trial, it is reasonable to accept that Jo received 100 million won in exchange for testifying that he used drugs alone despite using drugs together with Hwang."

Furthermore, the court added, "Whether Jo participated in concealing Hwang's drug crime is a matter of public interest with social significance and cannot be considered purely within Jo's private sphere."

Jo was arrested and indicted on charges of using methamphetamine handed over by Hwang in September 2015 and was sentenced to a suspended prison term the following year.

Seven people, including Hwang and others, were booked as Jo's accomplices, but the police sent all seven, including Hwang, to the prosecution with a non-prosecution recommendation in 2017.

Subsequently, in 2019, MBC reported based on information from an acquaintance of another accomplice who was with Jo at the scene of the incident, stating that "Hwang bribed Jo with 100 million won, urging him to 'take all the blame'."

In response, Jo filed a lawsuit against MBC seeking a correction and 50 million won in damages, claiming that the report defamed his honor through false reporting.

However, the first trial dismissed Jo's claim, stating, "There is insufficient evidence to recognize that the facts stated in the article are false."

It judged that the report was credible considering the reinvestigation confirmed that Hwang used drugs together with Jo.

The appellate court also found no problem with the first trial's judgment.

Meanwhile, after a police reinvestigation, Hwang was brought to trial and sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year suspension in the first trial, and the sentence was upheld in the second trial in November last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.