Former Chairman Ko Young-joo's "Moon Jae-in is a communist"... Not Guilty → Guilty, What Did the Supreme Court Decide?

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The Supreme Court is set to deliver its ruling on former Broadcasting Culture Promotion Agency Chairman Ko Young-joo, who was prosecuted for defamation after stating that "Moon Jae-in is a communist," thereby damaging President Moon's honor.

On the 16th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) will hold the final appeal hearing for former Chairman Ko, who was indicted on defamation charges.

In January 2013, at a New Year's greeting event hosted by a conservative civic group, former Chairman Ko referred to President Moon, then the Democratic United Party's presidential candidate, as "Moon Jae-in, the lawyer for the Burim case, is a communist, and if he becomes president, it is only a matter of time before our country turns red." The Burim case involved over 20 teachers and students who were prosecuted in 1981 for violating the National Security Act and other charges, receiving heavy sentences, but were acquitted in a retrial in 2014. At that time, former Chairman Ko was the investigating prosecutor, and President Moon served as the defense attorney in the retrial.

The first trial acquitted former Chairman Ko, reasoning that "considering the diversity of terminology, the fact that communism is generally associated with North Korea does not necessarily mean that the expression carries a defamatory factual statement."

The second trial convicted him. The appellate court stated, "Given ideological conflicts, the term 'communist' is more damaging to President Moon's social reputation than any other expression," and ruled that "former Chairman Ko's remarks cannot be considered lawful within the scope of freedom of expression," sentencing him to 10 months in prison with a two-year probation.

Meanwhile, President Moon filed a defamation lawsuit against former Chairman Ko in September 2015 during the Park Geun-hye administration, but the prosecution indicted former Chairman Ko without detention in September 2017, under the Moon Jae-in administration, on charges of defamation by false facts.

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