February 17, 2006 ¤Ñ President Roh Moo-hyun yesterday filed a second libel suit against the mainstream Chosun Ilbo newspaper, saying a cartoon defamed him by circulating false facts. The cartoon, titled "The lie is detected fast," was published on Aug. 9 last year and addressed illegal eavesdropping by the state intelligence agency.
In his written complaint submitted to the Seoul Central District Court, Mr. Roh said, "The Chosun Ilbo distorted facts to make it sound as if I received the contents of eavesdropping." He continued that the cartoon only partially quoted him from a press conference last year and made him out to be in charge of the eavesdropping from behind the scenes. Mr. Roh demanded that the Chosun Ilbo run a retraction or pay 5 million won ($5,100) per day in punitive damages until it does so.
The cartoon became an issue last September when the Press Arbitration Commission took Mr, Roh's side and ordered the newspaper to run a retraction. The newspaper, long at odds with the Roh administration, refused, and went to trial under the law governing press arbitration.
The trial was stopped last month, however, when the Seoul Central District Court raised the possibility that that law was unconstitutional. Mr. Roh then filed the current suit based on another defamation law.
The Supreme Court ruled last week that newspaper articles based on opinion were not subject to legal sanction. That ruling is expected to affect the Roh administration, which has filed a number of lawsuits against the press.
