Supreme Court Overturns and Remands Case, Acquitting Diplomat Accused of Sexual Harassment at British Embassy

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court has acquitted a diplomat who exposed allegations on an online media platform that a former Korean Embassy official in the UK sexually harassed embassy staff.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Noh Jeong-hee) overturned the lower court's partial guilty verdict against diplomat A, who was charged with defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, and remanded the case to the Seoul Eastern District Court, the court announced on the 25th.

The court ruled that since there was no motive for A to defame B due to personal feelings or economic interests, A's writings could not be considered defamatory to B.

The court stated, "Sexual misconduct by senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be subject to public scrutiny and criticism," adding, "This writing appears to publicize the misconduct of a senior diplomat and urge improvements."

In December 2016, A posted an article on the online media site Danji Ilbo exposing a sexual harassment incident involving B, who was formerly the Korean Embassy's counselor in the UK.

In the article, A claimed that B, who was the counselor in 2009, engaged in inappropriate physical contact with staff during a company dinner.

A asserted, "Not only was there a scandal (affair) with a female employee, but he also repeatedly sexually harassed after company dinners," and "He harassed numerous women."

The first trial recognized that a significant portion of A's writing defamed B and sentenced A to a fine of 1.5 million won.

The second trial acquitted A, ruling that not only the 'female reporter sexual harassment' acknowledged by the first trial but also the sexual harassment and affair during the 2009 company dinner could not be considered baseless defamation.

The court paid attention to the fact that A received direct, detailed reports of sexual harassment circumstances via emails from the victim. The victim also submitted a "certified statement" to the court confirming that such testimony was indeed made through A.

Additionally, although disciplinary action was not taken regarding B's affair, government inspection was conducted, and B himself acknowledged it, which was also taken into consideration.

However, the court judged that only the part of the article stating "B harassed numerous women" constituted defamation and reduced the fine to 500,000 won.

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