Woo Byung-woo wins correction report lawsuit against Kyunghyang Shinmun... Ruling also favorable to Cho Guk

Woo Byung-woo, former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Woo Byung-woo, former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House, won a correction request lawsuit against Kyunghyang Shinmun, which reported on allegations of 'secret legal representation.' The court ruled that the report contained false information.

Court Orders "Issue Correction Statement Within 72 Hours"

The Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 25 (Presiding Judge Lee Dong-wook) on the 23rd partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff Woo in the correction and damages claim lawsuit filed against Kyunghyang Shinmun and its reporters. The court ordered the defendant Kyunghyang Shinmun to "issue a correction statement within 72 hours from today."

However, the court ruled against the plaintiff regarding other reporters sued, stating they were not involved in writing the articles. For the former editor-in-chief and reporter held liable for damages, the court ordered payment of 5 million won, less than the 10 million won claimed by Woo.

Earlier, Kyunghyang Shinmun raised suspicions on July 19, 2016, on pages 1 and 2 that former Senior Secretary Woo, during his time as a lawyer, represented former Nature Republic CEO Jung Woon-ho without a formal retainer and had multiple meals with broker Lee Min-hee, who was involved in lobbying allegations related to Jung.

Woo immediately issued a statement denying the allegations. In the statement, Woo said, "This is 100% false reporting," adding, "I have never met or even spoken on the phone with Jung Woon-ho or Lee Min-hee; I do not know them at all." He then filed a correction request lawsuit with the court.

Seoul Central District Court / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Court's Question: "Who is the High-Ranking Legal Official?"

The court judged that some of Kyunghyang Shinmun's articles were written based on speculation without proven facts. The court stated, "Since there are false facts, the plaintiff's claim is accepted," adding, "Some parts of the correction request were dismissed, and only the parts recognized as false were accepted."

The court also cited the failure to specify who the high-ranking legal official quoted in the article was as a basis for judging it as false information. The court said, "Although a high-ranking official was quoted, the identity was not revealed, so the report could not be substantiated," adding, "If reports are made this way, any article could be written, so it was judged as false."

The court pointed out the following excerpt: 'A high-ranking legal official said, "It was an open secret that lawyers Hong Man-pyo and Woo Byung-woo operated as a 'duo' from 2013 to 2014," and "They jointly handled Jung Woon-ho's case without submitting a retainer."' As the court noted, Kyunghyang Shinmun did not disclose the identity of this official in the report at that time.

Media outlets often use the term 'official' instead of real names to protect sources when reporting accusations or allegations. However, this practice ultimately resulted in a loss in this lawsuit.

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk [Image source=Yonhap News]

Likely Impact on Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's Lawsuits

The outcome of former Senior Secretary Woo's lawsuit is expected to significantly influence lawsuits filed by former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. Cho has filed multiple lawsuits of a similar nature against media outlets and reporters who reported various allegations involving him and his family. Most of the articles Cho sued over were reported by citing unnamed sources, similar to the Kyunghyang Shinmun report in this case.

Coincidentally, Kyunghyang Shinmun was the starting point of Cho's lawsuits. On July 20, Cho began a series of lawsuits starting with a correction request against Kyunghyang Shinmun's article dated August 20 of the previous year, which reported on private equity fund allegations.

At the time, Cho stated on his Facebook, "I will actively take legal action against media outlets and reporters," adding, "This is the minimum defensive measure to protect the honor of myself and my family." He further said, "From now on, I will actively request rebuttals and corrections under the Act on the Mediation and Relief of Damage Caused by Defamation, and file damages claims against individual reporters who wrote the articles."

On July 29, Cho also said, "Whether civil or criminal lawsuits, they are exhausting tasks that require a lot of time and energy," but added, "I will proceed steadily without rushing or getting tired." He added, "The targets of civil and criminal sanctions are false reporting, dissemination, and serious levels of insult."

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