Public Figures and Defamation
There is a posting up on ESLCafe at the moment about somebody who wants to tell a tale without breaking Korea’s libel laws. A posting by the user dorian_gray has linked to a nice ‘clarification’ of the laws in Korea when the ‘victim’ is a public figure, and any content posted is true. The article from Korealaw.com, is reproduced below (bolding mine):
Publication of criticism on Internet concerning public figures does not constitute defamation, the Supreme Court says
Under Article 307of the Criminal Law of Korea, publication of any facts that may bring another person into disrepute is a criminal act, but, under Article 310 of the Criminal Law, such publication may not be a punishable act, if the facts published are true and that the purpose of the publication is to promote public interest.
Relying on Article 310 of the Criminal Law, the Supreme Court of Korea recently ruled that publication of the facts on Internet concerning sexual harassment by a national university professor of a female student is not a punishable act, thereby reversing the district court’s guilty decision (2003 Do 2137; Decision rendered on 04/29/05). In rendering its decision, the Court stated that while Article 307 is intended to protect reputation of individuals, Article 310 is intended to balance such rights of individuals against the rights to freedom to express since the freedom to express is one of the essential basic rights in democratic society that guarantees free exchange of ideas and opinions and the right to know possessed by the citizens. The Court also stated that although the injury to the reputation of the person concerned may be grave, the publication appeared to be intended for calling for a thorough investigation of the alleged sexual harassment act and elimination of sexual violence occurring within school campus, so the said publication may have been necessary for promotion of public interest.
Because of the Court’s decision, debate and criticism over social issues through Internet would likely be further expanded.
I am reposting this here because a number of people find my site by searching for information about libel in Korea, and there is a lot of misinformation out there. Some people believe that only journalists are protected by Article 310, and there are some who will argue that the truth is never a defence in Korea. This is not true. As long as what you say is in the public interest, particularly in the case of ‘defamation’ of public figures, the law will protect you.
