2. The costs of appeal shall be borne by the Plaintiff.

Purport of claim and appeal

The first instance court.

On October 1, 2015, an article of “N” (hereinafter referred to as “instant article”) offered by the Internet portal site on the following website was posted.

On the same day, the Defendant written an comments on the article of this case (hereinafter referred to as the “instant comments”) stating that the article of this case reads “the same finite waste, human finite, and promptly departing from this country.”

[Ground of recognition] Facts without dispute, Gap evidence Nos. 6 and 20, the purport of the whole pleadings

2. The Defendant alleged that the Plaintiff’s assertion constituted a tort against the Plaintiff, and the Defendant is liable to compensate 1,300,000 won as consolation money for emotional distress suffered by the Plaintiff due to such tort, as well as damages for delay.

Judgment

Defamation, which is a tort under the Civil Act, is established by expressing a warning that may undermine the social evaluation of a specific person, so the victim must be specified.

Even in cases where a person’s name is not indicated or two letters or initials are used, if it is possible to find out that a person’s name is a victim when considering the contents of the expression as a whole together with the surrounding circumstances, the victim is specified (see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 2000Da50213, May 10, 2002). However, even if considering the surrounding circumstances, such as the comments in opposition thereto, it is difficult to readily conclude who refers to the victim’s name, and in such a case, if there is insufficient evidence to presume the victim, the victim cannot be deemed to have been specified. Therefore, liability for damages caused by insult cannot be acknowledged.

In light of the above legal principles, the substance of this case is examined.