Cho Kuk Loses First Trial in Defamation Suit Against Media Over 'Song Cheolho Support Appeal' Report

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk filed a lawsuit for damages against a media company that reported he requested support for Song Cheol-ho, then the Democratic Party candidate for Ulsan mayor, during his tenure as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, but he lost in the first trial.

On the morning of the 13th, the 14th Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Seo Bomin) ruled against Cho in the first trial of a 300 million won damages claim he filed against six reporters from TV Chosun, Channel A, and others.

Earlier, TV Chosun and Channel A reported in November 2019 that Cho, then Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, visited a temple in Ulsan ahead of the 2018 local elections and asked for support for candidate Song.

Cho’s side argued, "He never visited Ulsan at that time nor met candidate Song," and claimed, "The article appears to have been based on information from a single source." They filed for damages against the reporters who published the related articles in September last year.

On the other hand, the reporters argued that "there were substantial reasons to believe the article was true."

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