"Candidate Lee Jae-myung, Who Owns Hwacheon Daeyu?"... Hwacheon Daeyu Loses Article Deletion Lawsuit

Claim of Defamation Against Lee Jae-myung Based on False Information
Court: "Freedom of the Press Is Constitutionally Protected
Article Deletion Must Be Strictly Limited"
Attorney: "Why Is Hwacheon Daeyu Taking Action?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management filed a lawsuit requesting the deletion of an article that triggered suspicions about the Daejang-dong development in Seongnam City but lost the case.

According to the legal community on the 18th, the Suwon District Court's 31st Civil Division (Chief Judge Lee Geon-bae) rejected Hwacheon Daeyu's request on the 12th for an internet posting ban and deletion injunction against Park Jong-myung, a reporter and CEO of Gyeonggi Economy Newspaper.

According to the ruling, Reporter Park posted an article online on August 31 titled “[Reporter’s Notebook] Candidate Lee Jae-myung, who does Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management belong to?” based on various tips and investigative content.

Hwacheon Daeyu claimed that the article was written with the intent to defame themselves and Candidate Lee based on false information, causing significant damage to their personality rights, honor, and credit, and requested that Reporter Park delete the article within 72 hours after the court’s decision, with a penalty of 10 million KRW per day if not complied with.

The court stated, “Injunctions seeking deletion of media reports or prior restraint of expression must be strictly limited in light of the constitutional freedom of expression and freedom of the press and publication,” and ruled, “More than two months have passed since the article was posted, and multiple media reports have appeared in the meantime, so it is difficult to see the necessity of immediately deleting the article and prohibiting its posting.”

It is known that Hwacheon Daeyu also filed a criminal complaint against Reporter Park for defamation and filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages worth approximately 200 million KRW. Kim Jong-min, the lawyer representing Reporter Park, said, “Hwacheon Daeyu has no intention of withdrawing not only this injunction but also the main civil lawsuit,” and added, “I don’t understand why Hwacheon Daeyu is making such a fuss, claiming that the unresolved suspicion is that the article was intended to defame Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate. Shouldn’t Candidate Lee be the one filing the lawsuit?”

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