Minister Lee In-young "Partial Explanation of Son's Study Abroad Expenses" Loses Lawsuit Against Chosun Ilbo

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Minister of Unification Lee In-young filed a lawsuit against Chosun Ilbo demanding a correction and damages but lost in the first trial.

According to the legal community on the 3rd, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 14 (Presiding Judge Kim Jong-min) ruled that the plaintiff lost entirely in the lawsuit filed by Minister Lee against Chosun Ilbo, demanding "the publication of a correction and payment of 5 million won in damages."

Last July, when Minister Lee, then a ministerial candidate, only partially disclosed the costs of his son's study abroad in Switzerland, controversy arose, and Chosun Ilbo later issued an article criticizing it as a "piecemeal explanation."

Minister Lee's son studied in Switzerland for about a year starting in August 2017. Initially, Minister Lee only disclosed tuition fees of 12 million won, but after criticism to also disclose living expenses, he revealed a day later that "a total of 30 million won was spent on living expenses."

Chosun Ilbo pointed out that "Candidate Lee (Minister Lee) submitted documents to the National Assembly showing remittances of living expenses to his son under his and his wife's names but did not submit remittance documents related to tuition and monthly rent," alleging that some documents related to his son's study abroad expenses were concealed.

In response, Minister Lee filed a lawsuit in December last year, after his appointment as minister, claiming that Chosun Ilbo reported false facts despite him submitting documents to the National Assembly showing that he remitted tuition and rent payments to the university in Switzerland and the landlord of the house where his son resided.

The court judged that the phrase in the Chosun Ilbo article stating "Candidate Lee did not submit documents showing remittance of monthly rent and tuition to his son" was merely somewhat ambiguous in summarizing the facts and was not a false statement.

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