Court Orders Former Care CEO Park So-yeon to Pay 100,000 Won Compensation to Hater Over 'Rescue Animal Euthanasia' Case

Former Care CEO Park So-yeon answering reporters' questions as she leaves the courtroom after attending a trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, in May last year.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Former representative Park So-yeon of the animal rights protection organization 'CARE,' who is on trial for euthanizing around 200 rescued animals citing a lack of space in animal shelters, has won a partial victory in a damages lawsuit against netizens who left malicious comments about her.

The court did not accept the defendants' argument that there was no illegality since Park had stated at a press conference that it was acceptable to criticize her when suspicions arose. However, the court recognized only a very small portion of the damages claimed by former representative Kim and ordered Park to bear most of the litigation costs.

According to the legal community on the 1st, Judge Kim Hong-do of the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 84 recently ruled in a damages claim lawsuit filed by former representative Park against six individuals, including Mr. A, who left malicious comments on articles related to her, ordering "the defendants to pay the plaintiff 100,000 won each," thus partially ruling in favor of the plaintiff. However, Judge Kim ordered Park to bear 90% of the litigation costs.

Judge Kim explained, "Considering the content and severity of the posts made by the defendants, and the fact that such comments were posted in the process of criticizing the plaintiff's actions, the amount of consolation money of 100,000 won each is appropriate."

It is known that the amount of consolation money originally claimed by former representative Park against Mr. A and others was about 2.5 million won per person.

Mr. A and others were sued by former representative Park for causing mental distress by posting malicious comments on an internet article titled "The Two Faces of Animal Rights Group CARE, Reckless Euthanasia" in January 2019.

In court, they argued that since former representative Park committed illegal acts, their somewhat harsh expressions were justified, and that the comments did not constitute insult or defamation. They also claimed that since Park had said at a press conference that it was acceptable to criticize her, the illegality was negated, but this was not accepted.

Former representative Park was indicted in December 2019 on charges of violating the Animal Protection Act for euthanizing about 200 rescued dogs and cats due to lack of shelter space, and on charges of violating the Real Name Real Estate Act for purchasing the animal shelter land under her personal name rather than the organization's name.

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