Gwak Sang-do Loses Defamation Lawsuit Against Kyunghyang Shinmun... "Criticism of Public Figures Is a Function of the Press"

Former Congressman Gwak Sang-do Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Former lawmaker Gwak Sang-do filed a lawsuit against Kyunghyang Newspaper for damages, claiming that the newspaper published false information about him in an editorial, but the claim was dismissed.

According to the legal community on the 3rd, Judge Kang Hwa-seok of the Civil Division 29 at the Seoul Central District Court ruled against former lawmaker Gwak in the damages lawsuit he filed against Kyunghyang Newspaper and the newspaper's editorial director. The court stated, "Expressing critical opinions about a public figure such as a member of the National Assembly falls within the fundamental role of the press," and added, "Even if the content is insulting and contemptuous personal attacks, unless it can be seen that the form of expression has clearly exceeded the limits of opinion expression, it should not be easily restricted."

Earlier, in June of last year, when allegations of corruption involving the Justice Memory Foundation surfaced, former lawmaker Gwak held a press conference raising suspicions about the circumstances surrounding the death of the late Son Mo, the director of 'Peace Our Home.' He suggested the possibility of homicide and urged further investigation. Kyunghyang Newspaper criticized this press conference in an editorial, stating that "there is no reasonable basis for the possibility of homicide, and it appears that even death is being exploited for political purposes." In response, former lawmaker Gwak filed a lawsuit against Kyunghyang Newspaper, claiming that the editorial contained false information that damaged his reputation and sought 50 million won in damages.

Meanwhile, former lawmaker Gwak recently resigned from the main opposition party, the People Power Party, following controversy over his son receiving 5 billion won as a retirement payment from Hwacheon Daeyu, which is under suspicion for preferential treatment in the Daejang-dong development project, and on the 2nd, he announced his resignation from his parliamentary position.

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