A. The contents of articles written and published by the Defendant by misunderstanding of facts and legal principles are about public interest, and the Defendant reported them for the public interest, and there were reasonable grounds to believe that their contents were true and reasonable.

Therefore, the illegality of the defendant's reporting of the above article is excluded in accordance with Article 310 of the Criminal Code.

B. The punishment sentenced by the lower court (an amount of five million won) is too unreasonable.

2. Determination

A. “Purpose of slandering a person” under Article 70(1) and (2) of the Act on Promotion of the Use of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, Etc. requires the intention or purpose of a misunderstanding of facts and legal principles, and is contrary to the direction of the actor’s subjective intent, with respect to the purpose of public interest.

As such, the provision that does not punish a person for public interest under Article 310 of the Criminal Act does not apply to defamation acts under the Act on Promotion of Utilization of Information and Communications Network and Protection of Information, Etc., which require the purpose of slandering the person (see, e.g., Supreme Court Decisions 2003Do601, 2003Do9, May 16, 2003; 2008Do699, Oct. 23, 2008; 2012Do2361, Apr. 26, 2012). In full view of the circumstances acknowledged by the evidence duly adopted and investigated by the court below, namely, the circumstance and scope of publication of the relevant fact, the method of expression, the details and nature of the alleged fact, etc., where the defendant believed that the victim’s reputation was damaged by openly pointing out false facts through the information and communications network, and that the defendant believed or believed the contents of the article as true or justified.

It is also difficult to see it.

As seen above, Article 310 of the Criminal Code can be applied to the defendant's act.