Supreme Court: "'Candidate Moon Jae-in is a communist' statement by Ko Young-joo is not defamation"… Overturns 2nd trial recognizing 10 million won compensation

Former Chairman of the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Agency, Ko Young-joo. / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Supreme Court has ruled that former Chairman Ko Young-joo of the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation is not civilly liable for calling former President Moon Jae-in a "communist" during a meeting held at the Korea Press Center International Conference Hall on January 4, 2013, immediately after the 18th presidential election.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) on the 16th overturned the lower court's ruling that had recognized a 10 million KRW compensation liability in the damages lawsuit filed by former President Moon against former Chairman Ko, and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court.

The court stated, "The remark 'communist' should be seen as an opinion or expression of position based on the defendant (former Chairman Ko)'s experience," adding, "It is difficult to view it as a statement of specific facts that would damage the plaintiff's honor."

It further explained, "It is part of the process of exchanging opinions and debates on the plaintiff's political ideology," and added, "It is not appropriate to evaluate this as exceeding the limits of freedom of expression by highlighting only the negative aspects of the plaintiff's social evaluation."

Former Chairman Ko, at a New Year's greeting event of a conservative civic group in January 2013, introduced the Burim case he investigated as a public security prosecutor in 1982, stating, "The people in the Blue House's Busan network during the Roh Moo-hyun administration are all connected to the Burim case. They are all people involved in communist activities and communist movements. Therefore, I was convinced that candidate Moon Jae-in was also a communist, and if he became president, it was only a matter of time before our country turned red. I cannot express how fortunate it is that our country has been able to avoid becoming communist, and I am very grateful to those of you who took the lead in that effort."

He also mentioned, "The Burim case was not a democratization movement but a communist movement, and candidate Moon was well aware of this."

In response, former President Moon filed a lawsuit in 2015 against former Chairman Ko, claiming 100 million KRW in damages, stating that "my social evaluation was seriously damaged by an unfounded remark."

The first trial court ruled that "the social reputation and standing of former President Moon were greatly damaged," ordering the payment of 30 million KRW in damages.

The second trial also recognized liability for damages due to illegal acts (defamation), stating, "Considering the negative and fatal meaning of the term 'communist' in our reality of inter-Korean confrontation and the existence of the National Security Law, even if the plaintiff is a public figure, excessively emotional and humiliating language cannot be recognized as freedom of expression." However, the second trial reduced the damages to 10 million KRW.

Former Chairman Ko had earlier been acquitted in a criminal trial finalized in February for the same remarks.

The Supreme Court judged that the remark "communist" was an expression of opinion on ideology or belief and was difficult to see as a statement of specific facts that would damage honor, remanding the case, and the acquittal was confirmed in the retrial.

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