205Da62761 Corrective Report

Park -

Incheon

Attorney Lee Dong-young, Lee, Lee Dong-young, et al.

Attorney Kim Jae-soo

Examination Corporation

Seoul

Fixed representative director

Law Firm Doz.

Attorney Lee Dong-chul, Kim Jong-soo

Seoul High Court Decision 2005Na11833 Decided September 27, 2005

September 6, 2007

The appeal is dismissed.

The costs of appeal are assessed against the Plaintiff.

The grounds of appeal are examined.

Even in a case where the media, such as the newspaper, etc., injures another person's reputation by disclosing a fact, if the purpose of the media is solely for the public interest, it shall be deemed that there is no illegality in the event that the alleged fact is true or there is no proof that it is true or that there is a considerable reason to believe that it is true, and that there is a considerable reason to believe it. Here, "when the objective is solely for the public interest" means that the alleged fact concerns the public interest when objectively viewed it, and the actor indicates it for the public interest. If the main purpose or motive of the actor is for the public interest, it is inevitable even if there is an incidental other private interest purpose or motive (see Supreme Court Decision 2003Da52142, Mar. 23, 2006, etc.).

Comprehensively taking account of the adopted evidence, the lower court: (a) prepared documents containing measures to improve its image by taking advantage of the representative director’s position of broadcasting company (hereinafter “broadcasting”) prior to the opening of the next Incheon Metropolitan City election (hereinafter “documents”) before the Plaintiff’s request on August 2003; and (b) presented them to him; (c) the Plaintiff’s election campaign was the primary child at the time of the Plaintiff’s withdrawal as a candidate for the Incheon Metropolitan City election campaign, which was held in 2002; and (d) determined that the lower court’s reasoning was difficult to recognize that the Plaintiff’s assertion that the Plaintiff’s broadcast of this case was an unlawful act of operating the Plaintiff’s broadcast media for the purpose of using the media materials for the sake of public interest and interest of the Plaintiff’s representative director as well as for the purpose of using the media materials for the purpose of promoting the 17th National Assembly election as well as for the purpose of using the media materials for public interest and interest of the Plaintiff’s broadcasting company.

Furthermore, the court below held that the Plaintiff had a variety of career as a political person, such as going out to the Incheon City market before the Plaintiff was the representative director, and that the documents of this case were discovered at the Plaintiff’s office. The time when the labor union members discovered the documents of this case had a considerable period of time from August 26, 2004, which was the time when the documents of this case were prepared, and that he had a citizen prepare the documents of this case, he had a great attention to the fact that he had worked at the Plaintiff’s campaign at the time of the Incheon market election in 2002, and that C did not have a reasonable reason to believe that the Plaintiff had sent the articles of this case to the Plaintiff from the 20th election campaign before and after the Incheon City election. In light of the above circumstances, the court below did not err by misapprehending the legal principles as to the Plaintiff’s testimony or delivery of the articles of this case to the Plaintiff at least since 20 years ago, and it did not appear that the contents of this case’s news report of this case were unlawful as well as the Plaintiff’s statement in Incheon City election 2.

Therefore, the appeal is dismissed, and the costs of appeal are assessed against the losing party. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices.

Justices Kim Hwang-sik

Justices Kim Young-young

Justices Lee Hong-hoon

Jeju High Court Justice Ahn Dai-hee