Blue House Secretariat Loses Lawsuit Requesting Correction for 'Criticism of President's Overseas Trips'

Archive photo / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Presidential Secretariat filed a lawsuit demanding a correction from a media outlet that published a column criticizing President Moon Jae-in and his wife's overseas trips, but the request was rejected.

According to the legal community on the 17th, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 14 (Chief Judge Kim Byung-chul) ruled against the Presidential Secretariat in the correction demand lawsuit filed against JoongAng Ilbo.

The court stated, "The plaintiff, the Presidential Secretariat, is not directly related to the content of the report and therefore does not have the standing to request a correction."

Regarding the factual accuracy of the column, the court also noted, "Expressions such as the frequency of the President and his wife's overseas trips and visits to tourist sites being 'frequent' are merely opinions or commentaries."

Previously, JoongAng Ilbo published a column titled "First Lady Kim Jung-sook's Bucket List" in June last year. It included content stating that President Moon had undertaken 19 overseas schedules since his inauguration, notably visiting tourist sites frequently.

The Blue House expressed regret, stating, "The President's overseas schedule, which was carried out in response to requests from the countries visited and diplomatic customs, is being described as 'overseas sightseeing.'"

The Blue House requested a rebuttal report and filed a complaint with the Korea Press Arbitration Commission. Although the commission decided on a rebuttal report ex officio, JoongAng Ilbo filed an objection, turning the issue into a legal dispute.

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