Court Grants Injunction to Suspend Effect of Yonhap News Portal Contract Termination

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Seoul Central District Court has accepted a provisional injunction request filed by Yonhap News Agency to halt the effect of the unilateral termination of news content contracts by Naver and Kakao.

On the 24th, the 50th Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Song Kyung-geun) granted Yonhap News Agency's request for a provisional injunction to suspend the effect of contract termination against Naver and Kakao. Accordingly, until the final judgment of the related main lawsuit is confirmed, the contract terminations notified to Yonhap News by Naver and Kakao on the 12th and 15th of last month, respectively, will be suspended.

Previously, the 'News Alliance Evaluation Committee,' jointly operated by Naver and Kakao, imposed a penalty to stop exposure on the portal for Yonhap News from March to July this year, citing a total of 649 cases of 'transmission outside registered categories' (advertorials). After a 32-day suspension, the committee conducted a re-evaluation of Yonhap News and notified Yonhap News in November that the partnership contract would be terminated because the score fell short of the minimum news content partnership score of 80 points.

However, the court pointed out on this day, "The termination clause stipulates that objections cannot be raised against the recommendations or measures of the News Evaluation Committee, and there is no method or procedure to dispute the evaluation or re-evaluation results of the News Evaluation Committee." It further emphasized, "This inevitably imposes significant restrictions not only on raising objections to the re-evaluation results but also on confirming the reasons for re-evaluation and termination and having an opportunity to correct them."

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