Court Allows Most of Kim Geon-hee's '7-Hour Call' Broadcast by Seoul Voice

Only Prohibition of Private Life-Related and Others' Private Conversations

On the afternoon of the 16th, the MBC program "Straight," which covers the "7-hour phone call" content of Kim Geon-hee, spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is being broadcast on the electronic billboard at the MBC building in Sangam-dong, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The court mostly dismissed the injunction request filed by Kim Gun-hee, spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, to ban the broadcast of the '7-hour phone call' by 'Seoul Voice.'

The Civil Division 51 of the Seoul Southern District Court (Chief Presiding Judge Kim Tae-eop) on the 21st partially accepted Kim's injunction request against Seoul Voice to prohibit broadcasting and distribution, allowing most of the content to be aired.

The prohibited content includes two categories: ▲ statements related solely to Kim herself or the candidate’s family’s private lives, unrelated to the public domain ▲ non-public conversations between third parties recorded by Lee Myung-soo of Seoul Voice, in which Lee was not involved.

At the hearing held the previous day, Kim’s legal representative argued, "The recorded files in this case were obtained by individuals with specific political motives who deliberately approached, induced questions, and extracted answers," adding, "Such parts do not fall under freedom of the press or publication and can be seen as serious invasions of privacy."

In response, Seoul Voice’s legal representative rebutted, "Lee disclosed her identity and requested an interview, but Kim’s side claims this is a political conspiracy," and added, "There was no attempt by the reporter to manipulate or edit the recordings to distort them."

Kim’s side filed injunctions against MBC, Open Sympathy TV, and Seoul Voice, claiming that Lee’s unauthorized recording of private conversations was illegal and that the direct disclosure of the call contents would cause serious harm to personal rights. The total recorded call duration by Lee is known to be 7 hours and 45 minutes over 53 sessions from July to December last year.

Previously, the Seoul Western District Court on the 14th allowed the disclosure of most content except for daily conversations unrelated to investigations or political views concerning Kim, and complaints about the media. The Seoul Central District Court also ruled on the 19th to broaden the scope of disclosure, prohibiting only the private life-related parts from being disclosed while allowing the rest to be made public.

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