Court Rules "Choe Kang-wook to Pay 3 Million Won Compensation to Former Reporter Lee Dong-jae"

"Choe Kang-wook Must Post Correction Statement on Facebook"

Choi Kang-wook, Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Former Channel A reporter Lee Dongjae filed a lawsuit seeking damages against Representative Choi Kangwook of the Democratic Party of Korea, claiming "defamation by false statements," and the court ruled that "Representative Choi must pay Lee 3 million won in damages."

On the morning of the 23rd, the Civil Division 25 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Song Seungwoo) partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the first trial of the 200 million won damages lawsuit filed by former reporter Lee.

Additionally, the court ordered, "Former Representative Choi must post a correction notice on his Facebook account for 7 days within 7 days from the day after the judgment is finalized," and stated, "If he fails to comply, he must pay an amount calculated at a rate of 1 million won per day."

Earlier, in April 2020, Representative Choi posted a Facebook article titled 'Summary of Channel A reporter’s statements in letters and transcripts.' In it, Representative Choi claimed, "Former reporter Lee said, 'Representative Lee (Lee Cheol, CEO of VIK), even if it’s not true, say you gave money to Yoo Si-min to survive.'"

In response, former reporter Lee’s side filed a lawsuit arguing that "the post contained false information that damaged his reputation and he should be compensated for the damages." Initially, he claimed 50 million won in damages but later increased the claim to 200 million won, stating, "He fabricated lies by describing in detail things he never mentioned, as if he wrote based on the transcripts."

Representative Choi was also criminally prosecuted for defamation related to the post that became the issue in this damages lawsuit. He was acquitted in the first trial. The prosecution appealed, and the second trial verdict is scheduled for January 19 next year.

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