Supreme Court Confirms 5 Million Won Fine for Baek Eun-jong, CEO of Seoul's Voice, in Retaliatory Coverage Case Involving Professor Ryu Seok-chun

Baek Eun-jong, CEO of 'Seoul's Voice'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The guilty verdict against Baek Eun-jong, the representative of the internet newspaper "Seoul's Voice," who unlawfully entered the research office of Professor Ryu Seok-chun of Yonsei University's Department of Sociology in September 2019 and committed verbal abuse and assault under the pretext of "retaliatory reporting" after Ryu made remarks about "comfort women prostitution," has been confirmed.

The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (then presided over by Justice Kim Jae-hyung) announced on the 15th that it upheld the lower court's ruling, which sentenced Baek to a fine of 5 million won in his final appeal trial on charges including trespassing, insult, assault, and obstruction of business.

The court explained the reason for dismissing the appeal, stating, "There is no error in the lower court's judgment that violates the principles of logic and experience, exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterprets the legal principles regarding the establishment of the crime of insult and justifiable acts."

Baek was prosecuted on charges of unlawfully entering Professor Ryu's research office on September 24, 2019, after reports emerged that Ryu had made remarks during a lecture suggesting that Japanese military comfort women could be viewed as voluntary prostitutes, and verbally abusing and assaulting Ryu while he was being interviewed by a university newspaper reporter.

At the time, Baek was accused of making insulting remarks such as, "You traitor, you bastard. You’re just someone who ate money from the Sasakawa Foundation," and "This is Ryu Seok-chun himself. Hong Joon-pyo brought a Japanese spy-like guy and made him the Innovation Committee Chairman. I will arrest him as a Japanese spy caught in the act," when Professor Ryu asked him to leave because he was in the middle of an interview. Baek was also charged with publicly insulting Professor Ryu by filming the incident on video and posting it on his YouTube channel on the same day for subscribers to view.

Additionally, Baek was accused of assaulting Professor Ryu by shouting that he would arrest him while forcefully grabbing Ryu’s left arm with both hands and continuously trying to drag him outside.

The prosecution initially filed a summary indictment against Baek with a fine of 5 million won, but Baek appealed and was brought to a formal trial. At the time, Baek stated that his request for a formal trial was not to reduce the fine but to leave a record of the actions of the "traitor" Professor Ryu in the court records.

Earlier, the first and second trials recognized Baek’s charges as guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 5 million won.

Baek argued in court that, as a media company representative, he insulted former Professor Ryu for the public interest and that his assault on Ryu was an act of self-defense, thus negating illegality, but these claims were rejected.

The Supreme Court also found no problem with the lower courts’ judgments.

Baek is known for having attempted self-immolation during the impeachment of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004, suffering third-degree burns and receiving treatment in an intensive care unit for over a year.

He has previously been fined multiple times for "retaliatory reporting" against former National Assembly member Na Kyung-won, conservative group "Mom’s Army" leader Joo Ok-soon, and the Garosero Research Institute.

During the last presidential election, Lee Myung-soo, a reporter for "Seoul's Voice," was also accused of violating the Communications Privacy Protection Act and the Public Official Election Act after recording a phone call with President Yoon Seok-youl’s wife, Kim Gun-hee, and handing it over to MBC.

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